The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in February that IEEPA tariffs were unconstitutional. $166 billion collected from over 301,000 importers. The government owes that money back.
So they built a portal. And if you're a Fortune 500 company with a trade compliance department, you probably filed your claim within minutes of it going live. Costco, Revlon, and roughly 2,000 large importers had already pre-filed lawsuits at the Court of International Trade before the portal even launched.
If you're one of the 97% of U.S. importers classified as small businesses, your experience has been different.
The numbers are brutal
Small businesses paid an average of $306,000 in IEEPA tariffs in 2025, according to the Center for American Progress. That's not a line item. That's working capital, credit lines, personal assets. Monthly customs duty payments surged from $8,400 to $27,200 -- a 224% increase in 12 months. A Federal Reserve survey found 42% of small firms identified rising tariff costs as a primary financial concern.
That money is sitting in a government account with your name on it. Getting it back is a different story.
The portal is simple. The prerequisites aren't.
Here's what surprised me about the CAPE (Claims and Adjustments Portal for IEEPA) system: CBP doesn't actually require invoices or supporting documentation at the declaration stage. You upload a CSV of entry numbers. That's it.
So why have only 47,000 of the 301,000+ eligible importers properly filed claims?
Because the barrier isn't the portal. It's everything that comes before it.
You need an ACE Secure Data Portal account. If you don't have one, you file Form 5106 and wait 6-8 weeks for approval. Phase 1 only covers entries that are unliquidated or liquidated within the past 80 days. Do the math. If you're starting the ACE process now, your 80-day window might close before your account opens.
You need your entry numbers organized and accessible. Most small importers relied on customs brokers who filed under their own accounts. Your broker has your data. Maybe they'll prioritize your $25,000 claim. Maybe they'll prioritize the Fortune 500 client's $25 million claim first.
As of April 14, only 56,497 importers had even completed ACH registration -- the step that lets CBP actually send you money. That's less than 19% of eligible filers.
Real people, real money stuck
Richard Brown runs Proof Culture, a two-person sneaker accessory company in Ohio. The government owes him roughly $25,000. That's 10% of his annual revenue.
He wasn't ready when the portal launched April 20. As of May 3, he still hadn't filed. NPR recorded his audio diary: portal login failures, hours on hold with CBP, no resolution. No customs broker. No trade counsel. No ACE account.
Beth Benike, founder of Busy Baby, reported that customs officials haven't helped resolve an issue with her importer account. She can't file. Fortune cited her situation as typical of the small business access problem.
Meanwhile, CBP published a complete error code table on April 29 after a 15% rejection rate during initial validation. Earlier in the process, they'd rejected more than a third of filed claims. One rejected entry can void an entire declaration. You can't amend a declaration once it's accepted. You refile from scratch.
The quiet part
The Cato Institute predicts tens of billions will simply never be refunded. Not because the government refuses to pay. Because small importers won't file.
The refund system is opt-in. The government knows exactly who paid what. They could issue automatic refunds. They chose not to.
Let that sit for a second. CBP has the entry data. They have the payment records. They have the bank information for every importer who's ever cleared a shipment. An automatic refund system is technically straightforward. Instead, they built a portal that requires an ACE account, organized entry data, ACH registration, and zero errors on submission.
NFIB President Brad Close said it directly: "Big businesses are already filing lawsuits and lining up for refunds. Main Street should be given the same opportunity."
This isn't a legal problem
The court already ruled. The money is owed. There's no legal ambiguity.
This is an operations problem. The businesses that get their money back are the ones with systems that can prove what they paid. Import tracking. Tariff classification codes. Entry numbers organized in a format the portal accepts. An ACE account that was set up before the clock started ticking.
Most small businesses never built that infrastructure because they never needed it. They trusted their brokers. They kept receipts in folders, not databases. They didn't have a trade compliance department because they had three employees.
And now they're competing against Fortune 500 compliance teams for the same $166 billion pool, with an 80-day window, a 15% rejection rate, and a 6-8 week account setup process.
What's still moving
$35.5 billion in IEEPA refunds have been processed so far out of roughly $127 billion eligible in Phase 1. The Trump administration has until June 7 to appeal the universal refund order. A successful appeal could halt the entire program.
Section 122 tariffs were also struck down on May 7, but relief is currently limited to the plaintiffs who filed suit. The DOJ appealed the next day. Importers continue paying the 10% Section 122 tariffs during the appeal.
Phase 2 -- covering older liquidated entries and reconciliation claims -- has no announced date.
The actual takeaway
If you're a small importer who paid IEEPA tariffs, your refund window is open but shrinking. The portal itself is straightforward. The problem is whether you have your data organized, your accounts set up, and your broker responsive.
If you don't have those pieces in place, start now. Not next week. The 80-day liquidation window doesn't care about your staffing situation.
We build the operational systems that keep small businesses from getting left behind when the rules change. Import tracking, data organization, automated compliance workflows. The kind of infrastructure that means you're ready to file on day one, not day 60.
First conversation is free. No commitment. kief.studio/contact