Has CBP announced a CAPE Phase 2 launch date?

No. As of May 2026 CBP has not published a Phase 2 launch date or a Federal Register notice committing to a Phase 2 mechanism. The CBP IEEPA Duty Refunds FAQ (April 2026, item E1) and CSMS #68315804 only describe Phase 2 as a future evaluation track for entry types excluded from Phase 1. The roadmap is directional, not scheduled. Importers with excluded entries should not wait for Phase 2 — they should preserve their IEEPA refund rights through protests and CIT review where applicable.

Which entry types will Phase 2 most likely cover?

Based on the CBP Phase 1 exclusion list, the candidates for later phases are: AD/CVD entries (excluded because of suspended liquidation and DOC coordination); reconciliation-flagged entries (entry type 09 and any entry flagged for reconciliation); warehouse entries (type 21 and similar); duty-deferral entries (type 08); TIB entries (type 23); drawback (type 47); and entries with active or unresolved protests on file. CBP has not stated which of these will be addressed first or whether any will be permanently excluded from CAPE.

If Phase 2 is undated, what should an importer do today?

Three things. First, file protective protests under 19 USC 搂 1514 within 180 days of liquidation on every excluded entry that does liquidate — the protest preserves the IEEPA refund claim regardless of whether Phase 2 ever launches. Second, consult trade counsel on Court of International Trade (CIT) options for entries that have already finally liquidated past the protest window. Third, build a clean inventory of your excluded entries by exclusion reason, so when Phase 2 mechanics are published you can act in days rather than weeks.

Does filing a Phase 1 declaration affect my Phase 2 options later?

No. Filing a CAPE Declaration in Phase 1 covers only the entries you list in the CSV — entries that meet the Phase 1 scope. Entries you cannot include because they are excluded by Phase 1 rules remain available for whatever Phase 2 mechanism CBP eventually publishes, and they remain available for protest and CIT recovery in the meantime. Phase 1 and Phase 2 are not exclusive tracks; they apply to different sets of entries.

Will Phase 2 reopen entries already past the protest window?

There is no public indication that Phase 2 will reach back to entries already past their 180-day protest window. CBP has consistently described CAPE as an administrative refund mechanism that operates within existing statutory timelines, not a reset of those timelines. Importers with finally-liquidated past-protest entries should treat CIT litigation as the most realistic recovery path and consult trade counsel rather than waiting for a Phase 2 reach-back that may never come.

CAPE Phase 2: AD/CVD, Reconciliation, and What's Coming After Phase 1

CAPE Phase 1 launched April 20, 2026 and is processing tens of thousands of declarations. But Phase 1 is deliberately narrow: a sizable share of IEEPA-affected entries — AD/CVD, reconciliation, warehouse, drawback, and entries with unresolved protests — were excluded from the launch scope. Those entries are not in CAPE today, and CBP has not committed to a date when they will be.

This post explains what CBP has actually said about CAPE Phase 2, which entry types are most likely to land there, and the four steps importers with excluded entries should take this quarter — even though no Phase 2 calendar exists.

Compass and map representing planning a route through the CAPE Phase 2 unknown

What CBP Has Actually Said About Phase 2

Two CBP sources mention later phases, and both stop short of a commitment:

CSMS #68315804 (April 10, 2026) introduces CAPE and lists the Phase 1 excluded entry types (Duty Deferral 08, Reconciliation 09, TIB 23, Drawback 47, and any entry flagged for Reconciliation), but does not promise a follow-on mechanism.
The CBP IEEPA Duty Refunds FAQ (April 2026), item E1 describes AD/CVD entries as candidates for evaluation in later phases, language that signals direction without a date.

There is no Federal Register notice opening a Phase 2 comment period, no CSMS sequel committing to a launch window, and no CIT order requiring Phase 2 by a specific date. As of May 7, 2026, Phase 2 is a roadmap label, not a calendar entry.

That has practical implications: importers with excluded entries cannot organize around a Phase 2 launch, so their refund strategy has to work whether Phase 2 arrives in three months, twelve months, or never.

The Five Most Likely Phase 2 Buckets

Looking at the Phase 1 exclusion list and the regulatory mechanics that justify each exclusion, five buckets are the strongest candidates for any Phase 2 expansion:

1. AD/CVD Entries

These are excluded because liquidation typically waits on a Department of Commerce administrative review, and the IEEPA portion cannot easily be severed from the AD/CVD calculation in a single reliquidation event. A Phase 2 mechanism would need to coordinate with DOC’s review timelines, which is non-trivial. See our AD/CVD importers IEEPA refund options post for the three liquidation states and what to do in each.

2. Reconciliation-Flagged Entries

Reconciliation (entry type 09) and any entry flagged for reconciliation are excluded because the reconciliation process itself adjusts duties post-entry, and reliquidating for IEEPA before reconciliation closes risks double-correction. A Phase 2 path here likely waits for reconciliation closure as a precondition.

3. Warehouse and Duty-Deferral Entries

Warehouse withdrawals and duty-deferral entries (types 08, 21, and related) defer the duty calculation event; they require their own withdrawal-by-withdrawal processing rather than a single entry-summary reliquidation. CBP would need to publish a different upload format and validation logic for these.

4. TIB and Drawback Entries

Temporary Importation under Bond (entry type 23) and drawback entries (type 47) are not full-duty entries to begin with — TIB defers duty pending re-export, and drawback is itself a refund mechanism. Any Phase 2 treatment likely requires linking to existing TIB closure or drawback claim records.

5. Entries with Active or Unresolved Protests

Entries that already have a protest on file at CBP are excluded from Phase 1 to avoid parallel processing on the same entry. A Phase 2 path here is the most procedurally simple — likely a withdrawal-and-refile flow once the protest is resolved or withdrawn. See how an open protest affects your CAPE refund filing for the current Phase 1 interaction.

Why Phase 2 Could Slip Indefinitely

Three forces work against an aggressive Phase 2 timeline:

CBP resource concentration on Phase 1 disbursement. With first refund deposits expected on or around May 11, 2026 and tens of thousands of declarations to process, CBP’s near-term operational focus is finishing Phase 1 well, not launching Phase 2.
Inter-agency coordination requirements. AD/CVD requires DOC sign-off on review timing; warehouse and TIB intersect with port operations; drawback intersects with the existing drawback program. Each Phase 2 bucket needs more inter-agency coordination than Phase 1 did.
No statutory deadline. Unlike the Supreme Court ruling that forced cessation of IEEPA collection, no court order or statute requires CBP to launch Phase 2 by a specific date. Without a deadline, the program competes with every other CBP modernization priority.

The realistic planning assumption is that Phase 2 may not arrive in 2026 at all. Importers should not let speculative Phase 2 access displace the recovery paths that have hard statutory deadlines today.

Four Action Items for Importers With Excluded Entries

A short, dated playbook that works whether Phase 2 launches in three months or thirty:

1. Inventory excluded entries by exclusion reason — this week

Pull every IEEPA-affected entry between February 2025 and February 2026 and label each by its exclusion reason: AD/CVD, reconciliation-flagged, warehouse, drawback, TIB, open protest, or unliquidated past the 80-day window. The bucket determines the next action; mixing buckets wastes time.

2. File protective protests on every entry that liquidates — within 180 days

This is the single most important step. The 19 USC 搂 1514 protest window is hard-coded in statute; it does not extend because Phase 2 is delayed. A timely protective protest preserves the IEEPA refund claim and creates a CBP record that any future Phase 2 mechanism can reference. See how to file a protest for IEEPA refunds for the mechanics.

3. Evaluate CIT options for already-liquidated past-protest entries — this month

For entries that have finally liquidated and are past the 180-day protest window, CIT litigation is typically the only remaining path. The legal theory for severing the IEEPA portion from a finally-liquidated entry is novel and varies by entry type. See CAPE, protest, or CIT — which path fits your entries for the path-selection framework.

CBP signals Phase 2 movement through CSMS messages and the IEEPA Duty Refunds FAQ updates, often with little advance notice. Subscribe at the CBP GovDelivery portal and bookmark our CSMS message index for the plain-English breakdown of each new bulletin.

Where Phase 3, Phase 4, and Beyond May Land

CBP has not used the labels “Phase 3” or “Phase 4” publicly. The plausible expansion arcs after a Phase 2 are:

A specialized AD/CVD coordination process with DOC, possibly run as a separate subroutine of Phase 2 rather than a distinct phase.
A drawback-linkage process that lets drawback claimants claim the IEEPA portion against their drawback ledger.
A reconciliation-closure process that automatically reliquidates IEEPA portions when reconciliation closes within a specified window.
A reach-back pathway for entries past the protest window — this is the least likely without legislation, but trade associations may push for it.

None of these is on the calendar. Treat them as scenarios to plan around, not commitments to wait on.

What This Means for Your Recovery Strategy

If you have excluded entries, the right posture is multi-channel preservation: file Phase 1 for everything in scope today, file protests on every excluded entry that liquidates within 180 days, evaluate CIT for finally-liquidated past-protest entries, and treat any future Phase 2 opening as a bonus channel rather than a primary plan.

The importers who recover the most from IEEPA tariffs in 2026 and 2027 will be the ones who treated Phase 1 as the start of a multi-year recovery program, not as a single-shot filing. Phase 2’s date is uncertain — the 180-day protest clock is not.

Want a vetted trade-law professional to inventory your excluded entries and map them to the right preservation strategy? Get a free assessment → — we will route you to a specialist based on your exclusion mix and refund priority.

CAPE Portal Guide is not a law firm, customs broker, or government agency. The strategies above involve statutory deadlines and novel legal theories; consult a licensed trade attorney before relying on any single channel.