Judge Eaton Suspends Immediate Refund Order — Gives CBP Until March 12 to Show Progress
After a closed conference on March 6, the Court of International Trade paused its order requiring immediate IEEPA tariff refunds — but set a tight leash. CBP must report back by March 12 on its plan to build a new automated refund system. Here's the full picture and what importers should do right now.
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📅 The Critical Timeline
🏛️ What Happened at the March 6 Conference
The March 6 conference in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. United States was described as a closed “settlement conference” — the court, CBP, and the parties negotiating the mechanics of the largest tariff refund in U.S. history.
The Key Outcome
Judge Eaton suspended his earlier order requiring CBP to immediately begin paying refunds. This came after CBP Executive Director Brandon Lord filed a sworn declaration detailing why immediate compliance is impossible at the scale required — $166 billion across 330,000 importers and 53 million entries.
However, this is not a win for the government. The court simultaneously:
- Ordered CBP to report back by March 12 on the progress of its proposed 45-day automated refund system
- Kept the underlying ruling intact — all importers are entitled to IEEPA refunds
- Signaled it expects CBP to move with urgency, not use the pause as indefinite delay
💻 CBP's Proposed Refund System
In his March 6 declaration, Brandon Lord outlined a 7-step automated process CBP is building within the ACE (Automated Commercial Environment) system:
CBP estimates this system can be operational in 45 days (~April 20, 2026). The Court has ordered a progress update by March 12, 2026.
❓ Three Open Questions That Could Change Everything
1. Will the Government Appeal to SCOTUS?
The government can file a petition for rehearing of the February 20 IEEPA decision with the Supreme Court. If filed, the government would likely request a stay of all refunds pending rehearing. Multiple law firms (Foley & Lardner, Thompson Hine, International Trade Insights) flag this as a real possibility.
2. Will CBP's 45-Day Timeline Hold?
Building a new ACE module to handle 53 million entries in 45 days is extremely ambitious. The March 12 progress report will be the first test. If CBP misses milestones, expect the court to reimpose stricter deadlines.
3. What About Section 122 Tariffs?
The Trump administration's fallback — Section 122 tariffs at 10-15% — faces its own legal challenge from 24 State AGs. Treasury Secretary Bessent confirmed the rate will rise to 15% “this week.” Section 122 has a 5-month statutory limit unless Congress extends it (July 2026 cliff). A separate TRIQ analysis covers the Section 122 July cliff in detail.
✅ What Importers Should Do RIGHT NOW
Estimate Your IEEPA Refund
Use our free calculator to estimate what you could be owed from the $166 billion IEEPA refund pool.
Calculate Your Refund →📋 Sources
- • Thompson Hine SmarTrade — “CIT Suspends Earlier Order Directing IEEPA Tariff Refunds” (Mar 6, 2026)
- • International Trade Insights (Husch Blackwell) — “CBP Proposes New System for IEEPA Tariff Refunds” (Mar 6, 2026)
- • Foley & Lardner — “What Every Multinational Should Know About the CIT's Order to Refund All IEEPA Tariffs” (Mar 6, 2026)
- • CNBC — “Customs and Border Protection tells judge it can't comply with refund order” (Mar 6, 2026)
- • Wipfli — “IEEPA Tariff Refunds: The Recent CIT Ruling and Section 122 Updates” (Mar 6, 2026)
- • Sourcing Journal — “CBP Will Start Issuing $166B in Tariff Refunds—Just Not Immediately” (Mar 6, 2026)
- • Brandon Lord Declaration, U.S. Court of International Trade, Case No. 1:26-cv-01259-RKE (filed Mar 6, 2026)
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