TRADE ALERT – IMPORTS
HEADLINE	CIT Orders Liquidation Without IEEPA Duties
DATE	March 4, 2026
AGENCY	Court of International Trade; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
EFFECTIVE DATE	March 4, 2026
BACKGROUND	On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down IEEPA tariffs as unlawful— affirming the May 28, 2025, ruling of the Court of International Trade (“CIT”) in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump.     The ruling implicates more than $142 billion in IEEPA tariffs collected by the Trump Administration since 2025. Importers have filed more than 2,000 actions at the CIT to preserve their right to a refund.   Although the Administration had previously stated that it would not deny a court order to issue refunds, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a motion on February 27, 2026 requesting that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) pause for 90 days before issuing its mandate. The CAFC denied this request on March 2, 2026, and released its mandate to the CIT.
DETAILS	On March 4, 2026, the CIT issued an order directing U.S. Customs and Border Protection to liquidate all unliquidated entries without IEEPA duties.  The CIT also ordered that all entries for which liquidation is not final to be reliquidated with a refund of the IEEPA duties. The order is broadly written and may apply to all importers. There is a conference scheduled for Friday and we expect additional clarity to emerge from further proceedings.   Notwithstanding the breadth of this order, we suggest that importers continue to file protests and cases until this decision is finalized.   1) Liquidation typically occurs 314 days after entry, however, liquidation may occur at any time. CBP may voluntarily reliquidate entries after 90 days. 2) The liquidation of an entry becomes final after 180 days, which is the deadline to protest. This decision does not apply to entries for which liquidation has become final. 3) We think that it is likely that this decision will be appealed by the government. This decision is a sign that the CIT judge charged with handling these cases is likely to move quickly on authorizing refunds.  It remains to be seen whether the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will see this the same way. In the meantime, we urge all importers to establish accounts on CBP’s ACE Platform and to make sure that they are set up for the ACH refund process.  Finally, as the litigation is likely to go on for a few more months, importers should continue to consider filing actions at the CIT and protesting entries as they liquidate in order to protect their rights.
BASIS	International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq.).
CITE	Federal Court of Appeals order (March 2, 2026): V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump, Nos. 2025-1812, -1813 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 2, 2026).   Supreme Court decision (Feb. 20, 2026): affirmed: Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., 607 U.S. ___, case No. 25–250 (2026); vacated and remanded: Learning Resources v. Trump, 607 U. S. ___ (2026), case No. 24–1287.   CIT Order re: pending IEEPA cases (Dec. 15, 2025): AGS Co. Auto. Sol. v. United States, Consol. Court No. 25-00255 (Ct. Int’l Trade, Dec. 15, 2025).   Federal Court of Appeals decision (Aug. 29, 2025): V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, 149 F.4th 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2025), cert. granted, No. 25-250 (U.S. Sept. 9, 2025).

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