DOJ Appeals IEEPA Refund Injunction — What Importers Need to Know

The Court of International Trade ruled that IEEPA tariffs were unlawfully collected. CBP was ordered to reliquidate entries and begin refunds. Then, on May 29, the Department of Justice filed its intent to appeal.

Here’s where things stand.

The DOJ’s argument is procedural: the CIT issued a “universal injunction” — one that covers all importers, not just the specific plaintiffs who filed suit. The DOJ contends that a universal injunction of that scope exceeds the court’s jurisdiction and equitable authority under Trump v. CASA, Inc., 606 U.S. 831, 839 (2025). The DOJ has asked the appeals court to stay the injunction except for named plaintiffs in each case.

In its court filing, the government stated:

“This Court has entered a universal injunction ordering CBP to reliquidate final entries including entries made by importers who have not sued in this Court. But defendants have explained, and as they will explain in their forthcoming response to the Court’s order to show cause, the universal injunction exceeds the Court’s jurisdiction and equitable authority under Trump v. CASA, Inc., 606 U.S. 831, 839 (2025). For that reason, defendants intend to appeal the Court’s universal injunction and to seek a stay of the injunction except as to the particular importer plaintiffs in each case in which the Court has entered the injunction.”

CIT Judge Richard Eaton responded by ordering CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to appear in court personally on June 9 to explain why refund processing isn’t moving faster. The DOJ pushed back on the personal appearance requirement as well, arguing senior CBP officials are sufficient.

Judge Eaton’s framing left no ambiguity: “Commissioner Scott’s testimony is necessary to ascertain if it is the government’s policy to return all of the unlawfully collected duties. There is $166 billion involved.”

If you’re not a named plaintiff in one of the original CIT suits, you’re in the “universal injunction” population the DOJ is trying to carve out. If the appeals court grants a stay, your refund timeline becomes uncertain while the case proceeds.

However, the government has clarified that those entries eligible for refunds in Phase 1 (before 90 days post-liquidation) will continue to receive refunds during this process.

What doesn’t pause: interest. IEEPA duties accrue interest at approximately 6–7% compounded from the original date of payment.[1]

Because that interest compounds daily, the outstanding refund amount grows larger every day the appeal remains pending.

If you paid IEEPA duties in 2025 through February 20, 2026, and haven’t yet filed for a refund through CAPE, reach out to our team at Premio International. Your filing position needs to be established before any court-ordered stay takes effect. Premio International will continue to file protests to avoid final liquidation.

At Falcone Global and Premio International, we are actively monitoring both the CIT proceedings and CBP’s CAPE updates. We’ll continue sharing developments as they happen.

[1] Under 19 U.S.C. § 1505 and 26 U.S.C. § 6621, as implemented at 19 CFR § 24.36, CBP interest rates are adjusted quarterly by the IRS and compounded daily. For Q2 2026, the rate is 5% for corporate overpayments and 6% for non-corporate overpayments (down from 6% and 7% respectively in Q1 2026).