On March 4, 2026, Judge Richard Eaton of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) issued a sweeping order requiring the government to finalize the cost of bringing millions of shipments into the U.S. without assessing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff that the Supreme Court ruled on February 20, 2026, in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump was unauthorized. Judge Eaton's Order in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection et al., states "that with respect to any and all unliquidated entries that were entered subject to the (IEEPA) duties, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is hereby directed to liquidate those entries without regard to the IEEPA duties. Any liquidated entries for which liquidation is not final shall be reliquidated without regard to IEEPA duties."
Judge Eaton also stated in his Order that he had been appointed by the Chief Judge of the CIT to hear all IEEPA-related cases and reiterated the Supreme Court's holding in Learning Resources that the CIT is the only forum for seeking a refund of an unauthorized tariff. Judge Eaton also clarified that the Supreme Court's restriction on universal injunctions in Trump v. CASA does not apply to this relief in the CIT, due to its unique statutory framework since the CIT has national geographic jurisdiction and exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction over trade claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1581.
This is encouraging news for importers, assuming Judge Eaton's Order stands, since CBP will be required to issue refunds without the necessity of any legal action. However, Judge Eaton did not provide a timeline for refunds but pointed out that CBP has systems in place that allow it to issue refunds in a streamlined manner.
In a March 6, 2026, filing ahead of a closed-session conference at CIT, Brandon Lord, CBP's Executive Director of Trade Programs, explained that CBP cannot comply with Judge Eaton's order immediately, asserting that CBP's existing technology and processes are not capable of handling refunds on such a massive scale. Lord points out in the filing that as of Wednesday, March 4, 2026, more than 330,000 importers made a total of over 53 million entries "in which they have deposited or paid duties imposed pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act," and that if CBP is required to issue refunds immediately and all at once, there is a substantial risk of conflicts in CBP systems due to how duties were reported. However, Lord suggested that CBP could be able to begin issuing refunds within 45 days.
Until the Court or CBP provides additional guidance, importers should secure an Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) account, if they do not already have one, which will allow importers to determine expected refund amounts and will allow refunds via ACH. Importers should also continue watching liquidation entries and continue to file protests at least until Judge Eaton's ruling becomes final. Moreover, the Court did not address how refunds for final liquidated entries will be addressed.
Downstream buyers, such as retailers and distributors who purchased goods from importers, want to continue to review their agreements for duty-sharing or price adjustment clauses. Others, whose contracts may not be explicitly call for price adjustments, may want to explore other avenues for recovering their share of the tariff.
Our team at Saul Ewing can help both importers and downstream buyers navigate the refund process as well as take necessary steps to preserve any claims to a refund quickly and efficiently.
For more information, view our previous alert on the Supreme Court's tariff refund decision.
