Not So Automatic: Trump Administration Signals Appeal to Universal IEEPA Tariff Refunds

By Brett W. Johnson, Derek Flint, T. Troy Galan, and Thomas Williams

On May 29, 2026, the Trump Administration filed a motion in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, stating that it will appeal the U.S. Court of International Trade’s (CIT) universal injunction ordering it to reliquidate final entries, including by importers that have not filed suit.¹ The Administration’s stance threatens to upend the refund process for nearly half of the roughly $166 billion in International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs collected — affecting importers that have not filed suit in the CIT and preserved their refund claims for finally liquidated entries.

I. The Administration’s Three-Category Refund Framework

The recently filed motion lays out the Administration’s three-category framework for IEEPA refunds and how it intends to contest the CIT’s universal refund order.

First, tariffs paid on entries that are unliquidated or nonfinal and therefore remain within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) control. The Administration represents that CBP is “already in the process of refunding approximately $85 billion of these tariffs — over half the total amount of IEEPA tariffs paid.”² Many of these claims are covered under Phase 1 of CBP’s Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) System, which systematically processes importer submissions within 80 days of liquidation subject to a few exceptions.³

Second, tariffs paid on entries that are finally liquidated and for which the importer has filed suit in the CIT. The Administration maintains that once an entry is finally liquidated, “CBP has no authority to reliquidate or refund money without a court order.”⁴ For this category, the Administration insists that refunds must be processed through importer-specific court orders requiring reliquidation — a position that would force individualized litigation for every affected importer.

Third, tariffs paid on entries that are finally liquidated but for which the importer has not filed suit in the CIT. The Administration stated that it “intends to appeal the [CIT’s] universal injunction and to seek a stay” on this category of refunds, while expressly excluding the second category of refunds in which the CIT has ordered specific relief.⁵ The Administration disputes the CIT’s equitable authority and jurisdiction under Trump v. CASA, Inc.,⁶ arguing that universal injunctive relief for IEEPA tariff refunds is overbroad. Importers that have not yet filed suit risk sliding from category one into category three — and potentially losing their refunds altogether if the Administration is successful on appeal.

II. What This Means for Importers

The Administration’s stance confirms that it will aggressively contest refunds, insist on individualized proceedings for finally liquidated entries, and resist expansive judicial remedies. Several important takeaways follow for importers with outstanding IEEPA tariff refunds.

Filing suit remains critical – The Administration’s position that it will challenge the CIT’s universal injunctive relief means importers that have not filed suit in the CIT face substantial risk that they will be excluded from any refund order if the appeal succeeds. Filing suit in the CIT remains the most conservative path to preserving rights for finally liquidated entries post-Learning Resources, Inc.

Time is of the essence – The liquidation clock continues to run. For many importers, the window to challenge liquidation determinations has already begun to close. As entries liquidate, they slip from the Administration’s first category to the third. Importers that have not yet filed suit in the CIT should consider assessing their exposure immediately with experienced trade counsel.

Prepare for a protracted legal battle – The estimated $85 billion in refunds already being processed applies only to unliquidated entries — the simplest category of refunds. Finally liquidated entries may require individualized court orders or a successful challenge to the Administration’s appeal of the universal injunction, either of which could take months or years to resolve.

III. Conclusion

The IEEPA tariff refund landscape is developing rapidly, and the Administration’s latest filing confirms that it will not make the refund process easy. Importers of record should consider evaluating — or re-evaluating — options to protect refunds rights. Furthermore, as challenges to other tariffs wind through the court system, keeping track of import data and ensuring accuracy of records may help facilitate any potential refund process, especially if litigation becomes necessary in the Court of International Trade.