IEEPA Outreach to Clients

Dear CTP Clients:

As you may know the U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering two cases: V.O.S Selections Inc v. United States and Learning Resources Inc. v Donald Trump which were both argued on November 5, 2025. These cases focus on the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) and whether it authorizes the President to impose reciprocal tariffs based upon the exporting country of international shipments into the United States.

Depending on the outcome of these cases, there may be a provision for reimbursement of the IEEPA tariffs you have paid to U.S. Customs. While the decision by the Supreme Court will take some time, there are steps you can take now to preserve your ability to protest what you have paid. Although the outcome is uncertain, there is a general consensus within the trade community that reimbursements will be issued based on standard/existing protest procedures. As such, it would be prudent to preserve your ability to protest the duties paid under IEEPA in hopes of securing a refund for the IEEPA tariffs should the Court uphold the decision of the two lower courts. This process will take time, patience, and a bit of information gathering to properly inform the protest.

Should the Court decide to uphold the lower courts, with their opinion expected sometime between now and the end of the Court’s session on June 30, 2026, there will likely be a process announced to request refunds for the IEEPA duties. The process is expected to entail filing a normal protest within 180 days of the date of liquidation. If an importer does not file within that 180-day window, it is likely they will not be eligible for a refund (and may have to take legal action against the USG, which would be costly and time consuming).

Liquidation is defined as the conclusive determination of duties, taxes, and fees owed on an entry by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP must complete this process within one year from the date of entry unless specific conditions extend this period. If liquidation is not completed within the statutory timeframe, the entry is deemed liquidated by operation of law at the rate and amount asserted at the time of entry, ensuring predictability for importers. Liquidation dates are found in the ACE database, within which you are likely to have one or more accounts. Many of the shipments that were received since these tariffs were imposed in April have not yet achieved liquidation, but some may have already been liquidated, meaning the 180-day clock has started.

According to US regulations on liquidation and protest (19 USC 1500, 1504, 1514 etc.), a protest must be filed within 180 days of the liquidation of the shipment. Protests filed 180 days or more after the liquidation date will ordinarily not be processed. That said, we are in uncharted regulatory waters and ultimately do not know what the decision will be and what steps the court might undertake in its final decisions.

To put this in perspective, IEEPA duties have ranged from 10% to 145% depending on when the goods were imported and from what countries. All importers have been paying these duties.

We would be happy to discuss this in greater detail, notably how you should prepare. We strongly advise our clients to look at their duties paid under IEEPA. If the court upholds the two prior decisions, those who have prepared will be well positioned for the possible refunds. It is possible that a different refund process could be established, but the information gathered will likely inform any revised process also. If the decisions go in other directions, protests can be withdrawn.

Let us know if you have questions by reaching out to complianceteam@ctp-inc.com.  Stay tuned for more updates.

Sincerely,

Rick Phipps
Director of Compliance Services
CTP – Commonwealth Trading Partners