---
title: "IEEPA Refund Protest Deadline: 180 Days From Liquidation"
description: "Missed CAPE for an IEEPA tariff refund? You can still protest a liquidated entry within 180 days. How to work out the deadline, how to file, and what happens after."
url: https://importdutycalc.com/tariff-refund-protest-deadline
---

Guide · checked 13 October 2026

# IEEPA refund protest deadline

If an entry was liquidated more than 80 days ago, CAPE won't take it. Your remaining route is a protest, and it must be filed within **180 days of the liquidation date**. After that, the entry is final.

**Want the answer for your own case?** Use the tool, then read on for the details.

[Check all my entries](https://importdutycalc.com/tariff-refund-checker)

## Work out your deadline

- Find the **liquidation date** for the entry in the ACE portal (or ask your broker). Informal entries are liquidated on the day they were made.
- Add 180 days. That's the last day to file the protest.
- Days 1 to 80 after liquidation: use CAPE instead, and keep the protest as a back-up.

Our [refund checker](https://importdutycalc.com/tariff-refund-checker#entries) does this for a whole list of entries and flags any deadline in the next 30 days.

## How to file a protest

- File electronically in ACE, or on CBP Form 19, at the port where the entry was made.
- Only the importer of record, its licensed broker, or certain other parties named in the law can protest.
- Give the entry numbers, the decision you're protesting (the liquidation including IEEPA duties), and the reason: the Supreme Court held the IEEPA tariffs unlawful in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (20 February 2026).
- One protest can cover several entries from the same port.

## What happens after

A protest stops the liquidation becoming final while it's pending. CAPE does not yet accept entries with an open protest, so refunds on protested entries depend on CBP and the courts. A protest filed only to recover IEEPA duties can be withdrawn later if a faster route opens.

## Past 180 days?

The entry is final as far as CBP is concerned. The remaining routes are court cases: a class of importers who paid IEEPA duties from 1 February 2025 to 19 February 2026 was certified on 8 October 2026 (Freestyle World v. CBP), and importers can also bring their own case at the Court of International Trade within two years. Talk to a customs lawyer.

[Check all my entries](https://importdutycalc.com/tariff-refund-checker)

Sources: 19 U.S.C. 1514 (protests, 180 days); 19 U.S.C. 1501 (voluntary reliquidation within 90 days); CBP CAPE guidance; Holland & Knight and Ginger Control refund guides. General information, not legal advice.