---
type: Playbook
title: "How to File an IEEPA Tariff Refund: Retailer Step-by-Step"
description: "Step-by-step IEEPA tariff refund guide for independent gift retailers — what to file, where to file, and exactly how to claim money back from CBP."
resource: https://amyfaychandler.com/playbook/tariffs/how-to-file-ieepa-tariff-refund/
tags: [playbook]
---

# How to File for an IEEPA Tariff Refund: A Step-by-Step Guide for Small Retailers

[← Back to Tariffs & Importing for Independent Retailers](/playbook/tariffs/)

Last updated April 11, 2026 — by AmyFay Chandler

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably figured out two things in the last 24 hours: the tariffs you’ve been paying for the last year are getting refunded, and nobody is going to walk you through how to actually claim that money. Both are true. Let me help with the second part.

I represent a dozen brands in Tennessee and Kentucky and two brands nationally. For the last fourteen months I’ve watched my brands and my retailers absorb the cost of these tariffs. Now the Supreme Court has ruled that the IEEPA-based tariffs were imposed without proper authority, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection is opening a refund portal on April 20, 2026 so importers can get their money back — with 6% interest accruing on every dollar you’re owed.

This guide is for the importer of record who’s never filed a customs protest before, doesn’t have a corporate trade attorney on retainer, and just wants to know what to do this week.

Not sure if you’re eligible? Take 90 seconds with the [Tariff Refund Eligibility Checker](https://tools.amyfaychandler.com/refund-checker) — it’ll tell you whether you qualify before you spend an hour on this article.

## What you can actually claim

The CBP refund window only covers tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In practice, that means:

- The “reciprocal” tariff line items (the ones tied to country-specific retaliation)

- The “fentanyl” / “trafficking” tariff line items (imposed under the emergency declaration)

- The “baseline” tariff line items added under the same emergency authority

These are the duties the Supreme Court struck down. They show up on your CBP Form 7501 entry summaries as line items with those exact words in the description, or with HTSUS codes that customs brokers can identify.

What you cannot claim through this portal:

- Section 232 tariffs (steel, aluminum, autos) — these were imposed under different legal authority and are still in effect

- Section 301 tariffs (China-specific) — same story, different statute, still standing

- Standard MFN duty rates — these were never in dispute

If you only paid Section 232 or 301 duties, you’re not part of this refund window. There are separate court challenges working through the system for those, but they’re not at the refund stage yet.

## The five steps

### Step 1: Set up your ACE Portal account right now

This is the detail nobody mentions until you need it: the ACE Portal account takes three to four weeks to set up. It’s not instant. CBP has to verify your business identity, your importer of record number, and tie your account to your customs entries. If you wait until April 20 to start this process, you’re going to be sitting in a queue while interest accrues without you.

Go to ace.cbp.gov and click “Sign Up.” You’ll need:

- Your business EIN

- Your importer of record number (the same number on your customs entries — your customs broker has this)

- A trade account administrator (this can be you, the owner)

- Proof of your business identity (articles of incorporation or equivalent)

- An email address you actually monitor

Submit and wait. CBP will email you a verification link, then a second email with your Trade Account ID. The account becomes fully usable in 15-20 business days.

If you’ve never imported before, you don’t need an ACE account — you wouldn’t have paid IEEPA tariffs in the first place.

If you import through a customs broker, your broker likely already has an ACE account that lists your business as a client. Ask them whether you should set up your own or use theirs. For small refund claims, using the broker’s account is often easier and faster.

### Step 2: Pull your CBP Form 7501s for the entire eligible period

The 7501 is the “Entry Summary” — the form CBP issued for every customs entry you made between February 1, 2025 and now. You need every single one of them to support your refund claim.

Where to find them:

- From your customs broker. Email them and say: “Please send me copies of every CBP Form 7501 you filed on our behalf from February 2025 through today.” Most brokers will send these as a single ZIP file or a shared folder. Some charge a small retrieval fee. Most don’t.

- From your own ACE account, once it’s active. ACE archives every entry unde