Reconciliation almost never comes up in the IEEPA refund conversation — but it's been quietly costing some importers a faster refund path. Since June 29, 2026, CBP's CAPE tool has been able to strip the IEEPA duty out of entries flagged for reconciliation before the reconciliation itself gets filed. The catch: it only works in one direction.
File the Type 09 reconciliation entry before CAPE gets to it, and CBP treats the underlying entries as already resolved for this phase — closing the door on the faster, interest-bearing refund path, with no firm date for when it reopens.
Why it matters
If your company routinely flags entries for reconciliation — automotive and apparel importers with related-party pricing are the classic case, along with anyone waiting on a classification ruling, a protest, or an FTA determination before locking in final numbers — some of your biggest IEEPA exposure may be sitting in entries CAPE originally couldn't touch at all. CAPE's Phase 1, which launched April 20, 2026, excluded reconciliation-flagged entries entirely (Diaz Trade Law). The June 29 update opened a lane for them, but the lane only runs one way. Get the filing order backwards and the entry doesn't just miss CAPE's faster path — it drops into the slower, entry-by-entry manual refund process, with the only promised relief being a 'future CAPE phase' that has no date attached (Barnes, Richardson & Colburn).
The details
CBP laid out the fix in CSMS #69035485, effective June 29, 2026: entries of Type 01, 02, or 06 that are flagged for reconciliation — and that don't yet have a Type 09 reconciliation entry on file — can now go through CAPE under the same eligibility rules as any other Phase 1 entry, meaning unliquidated or within 80 days of liquidation (C.H. Robinson). The CAPE declaration removes the IEEPA duty from the flagged entries first; only afterward does the importer, or their broker, file the Type 09, which proceeds without the IEEPA calculation riding along (Diaz Trade Law).
The sequencing is the whole story. Once a Type 09 is filed, CBP treats the CAPE declarations tied to those underlying entries as filed and accepted — and the entries become ineligible for CAPE in this phase (Diaz Trade Law). Entries that already carry a filed Type 09 are excluded from this deployment outright; CBP has said only that a future CAPE phase will address them, with no committed timeline (Barnes, Richardson & Colburn).
CAPE still won't touch certain reconciliation-adjacent entries at all, regardless of filing order: anything already designated on a drawback claim, entries under an open protest, entries never filed in ACE or lacking an ACE liquidation status, AD/CVD entries where Commerce has issued liquidation instructions and liquidation is pending under 19 U.S.C. § 1504(d), and entries liquidated more than 80 days ago (Barnes, Richardson & Colburn). If a reconciliation-flagged entry falls into one of those buckets, the June 29 fix doesn't reach it either way.
For readers newer to this corner of customs mechanics: reconciliation — CBP calls it the ACE Reconciliation Prototype — lets an importer enter goods on the best information available at the time, flag the entry on an issue that isn't settled yet (value, HTSUS 9802, a classification pending ruling or protest, or an FTA claim), and true it up later on a single, consolidated Type 09 entry (CBP.gov). It's common among importers with related-party transfer pricing, delayed cost data, or FTA eligibility that depends on documentation that only shows up after the goods clear. The filing windows are fixed, and CBP grants no extensions: 12 months from the date of importation of the oldest flagged entry, or 21 months from that entry's summary date (CBP.gov; 19 U.S.C. § 1484(b)).
THE RECONCILIATION-CAPE FIX, AT A GLANCE
Effective June 29, 2026. CSMS #69035485 opened CAPE to reconciliation-flagged Entry Types 01, 02, and 06 that meet Phase 1's usual unliquidated-or-within-80-days rule.
File CAPE before the Type 09. CAPE accepts a reconciliation-flagged entry only if no Type 09 has been filed for it yet — file the reconciliation first and the entry can't come back into CAPE in this phase.
Deadlines don't move. Reconciliation is still due 12 months from the oldest flagged entry's import date, or 21 months from its summary date — CBP grants no extensions.
Inside 30 days of your reconciliation deadline? File the Type 09 on time and pursue the IEEPA refund afterward through the slower manual process — don't let the clock run out waiting on CAPE.
What to do about it
Pull your flagged-but-unfiled list. Find every Type 01, 02, or 06 entry you've flagged for reconciliation that carries an IEEPA Chapter 99 code (9903.01 or 9903.02) and doesn't yet have a Type 09 on file.
Check liquidation status first. Phase 1's underlying rules still apply — the entry has to be unliquidated or within 80 days of liquidation to qualify for CAPE at all.
File the CAPE declaration before the reconciliation. Get it in and processed before your broker submits the Type 09; reversing that order forecloses the entry from CAPE in this phase.
Flag anything inside 30 days. If your reconciliation deadline is close enough that waiting on CAPE risks blowing the 12- or 21-month window, file the Type 09 on time and chase the IEEPA refund afterward through the manual, entry-by-entry route.
Loop in whoever owns your reconciliation filings. This is easy to miss if the person filing your Type 09s isn't the same person tracking CAPE eligibility — make sure both know the order matters.
Keep an eye on
CBP still hasn't said when or how it will handle reconciliation-flagged entries that already carry a filed Type 09 — the agency points only to a "future CAPE phase." With Phase 3 now live for court-ordered reliquidations, it's worth watching whether that next phase folds in the leftover reconciliation entries too, or keeps them on a separate track. If your reconciliation deadlines run into next year, check CBP's CSMS feed again before you file rather than assuming today's sequencing rule still holds.
Got questions? Drop a comment below. Ask our licensed customs brokers, and they'll get right back to you here in the comments.
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