What the CIT's Class Ruling Means for IEEPA Importers

The lead IEEPA refund case at the Court of International Trade (CIT) changed from Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 25-00595, to Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01088. This article follows that transition and the class-certification case.

Current status, October 14, 2026: On October 8, the CIT certified a Rule 23(b)(2) class. The ruling does not itself award refunds, direct liquidation or reliquidation, or create a CAPE filing procedure for all class members. CBP deployed limited Phase 3 on October 6 for court-covered plaintiffs. The October 13 closed-conference date has passed; whether it occurred and any outcome were not verifiable in the accessible docket by this review. See the October 8 opinion, the October 6 CBP declaration, ECF No. 58, and the October 8 procedural order, ECF No. 60.

Earlier update, October 5: the limited October 6 Phase 3 deployment remained a plan requiring operational confirmation. The court had denied Zonos’s amicus request on October 2, while ITSA’s September 25 letter reported unresolved surety-refund implementation. Neither event created a broader filing lane or decided class certification. See the dated October 5 update below and our Phase 3 eligibility checklist.

At the time of the case transition, CBP’s July 13 Lord Declaration reported that as of July 10, approximately $121.75 billion in potential and certified refunds had been accepted for CAPE processing and approximately $86.3 billion had been completed, certified, and sent to Treasury—up from $104.29 billion accepted and $71.06 billion sent as of June 29. Newer figures appear in the September 22 update below.

Why Euro-Notions Is Dismissing

Euro-Notions filed its notice of dismissal under USCIT Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i), which allows a plaintiff to dismiss without a court order before the defendant serves an answer. The dismissal was not a surprise. At a closed conference on July 14, 2026, the court and participants discussed Euro-Notions’ intention to voluntarily dismiss, and the July 15 order put that plan on the public record.

The dismissal did not end the broader IEEPA refund litigation. Judge Eaton said the court would lift the stay in Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01088 - a separate IEEPA refund case whose class was certified on October 8, 2026. The court also discussed the Rule 23 hearing schedule in Freestyle World and in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, No. 25-00066.

Why the Freestyle World Class Motion Matters

The class-certification question has since been decided at the certification stage. The October 8 opinion certified a defined Rule 23(b)(2) class, but did not decide the requested refund relief. The distinction between class certification and an order directing refunds remains important for importers with finally liquidated entries.

The certified class changes the case’s procedural posture, but does not itself deliver refunds or supply a CAPE submission workflow to class members. The class definition and any future relief should be read from the court’s orders rather than inferred from the certification alone.

Two important caveats:

1. Certification is not a refund order. The court granted certification on October 8 under Rule 23(b)(2). The opinion addresses class status, not the ultimate requested refund relief; the government’s July 28 opposition is part of the procedural history (ECF No. 18).
2. Phase 3 remains plaintiff-specific. Judge Eaton’s July 17 reliquidation order (ECF No. 52) applies to plaintiffs in approximately 3,700 court-assigned IEEPA cases. CBP’s October 6 declaration says the system is live for eligible entries covered by court orders, not as a general workflow for non-litigants.

Importers with material finally liquidated exposure should continue seeking individual counsel review. Class membership is not a substitute for checking the certified definition, requested relief, or applicable deadlines. See our finally liquidated CIT path guide for the decision framework.

Updated CAPE Pipeline Figures (July 13 Lord Declaration)

The July 13 declaration from CBP Executive Director Brandon Lord reports the following as of 3:00 p.m. EDT on July 10, 2026:

The most common file-validation failure reasons remain importer-of-record or filer mismatches, entry-number problems (wrong length or not found in ACE), and CSV files that do not match the published template. The most common entry-level failure reasons are entries past CBP’s 90-day reliquidation authority, entries without a Chapter 99 IEEPA HTS line, and entries already filed on a prior CAPE declaration. See our CAPE validation error guide and CSV resubmission guide for fixes.

The Three July 16-17 Filings

Three docket entries followed the July 15 order in Court No. 25-00595:

• ECF No. 47 (July 16): iGlobal Exports, LLC (doing business as Zonos) filed its response to Judge Eaton’s July 10 letter asking five questions about Zonos’s role in collecting IEEPA duties on postal-stream shipments. Zonos explained that it operates as a CBP-certified “Qualified Party” under Executive Order 14324, which created a separate duty-collection mechanism for the international postal stream outside the normal entry framework.
• ECF No. 48 (July 16): Euro-Notions’ notice of voluntary dismissal.
• ECF No. 49 (July 17): Judge Eaton denied a separate motion for leave to file an amicus curiae brief (ECF No. 36) brought by Hausfeld LLP, Nematzadeh PLLC, Barrett Law Group, P.A., Gordon Ball PLLC, Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, and McSweeney Cynkar & Kachouroff, PLLC.

Three more docket entries followed on July 17:

• ECF No. 50 (July 17): Judge Eaton directed Zonos to re-file its amicus curiae motion in Freestyle World, Court No. 26-01088, now that Euro-Notions (Court No. 25-00595) has been dismissed.
• ECF No. 51 (July 17): The clerk entered the formal order of dismissal for Euro-Notions, confirming the voluntary dismissal under Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i).
• ECF No. 52 (July 17): Judge Eaton issued a reliquidation order directing CBP to reliquidate, without regard to IEEPA duties, all entries that have been liquidated for more than 80 days and on which plaintiffs made estimated IEEPA deposits. This is the court order that the July 15 order had anticipated. For details, see our full analysis of the July 17 reliquidation order.

The postal-stream question is a reminder that not every IEEPA duty was collected through the standard importer-of-record entry process. Importers that used de minimis postal shipments or Qualified Party mechanisms should confirm how their duties were paid before assuming CAPE covers them.

What Importers Should Do Now

1. Confirm ACH information is on file. CBP reported 20,362 refunds totaling about $1.1 billion not transmitted because ACH information was missing as of October 2. Since October 10, ACE requires email-token verification for ACH detail changes. See CSMS #70162211 and our ACH enrollment guide.
2. Use the filing lane that fits each entry. Phases 1 and 2 remain available for eligible entries. Phase 3 is live for finally liquidated entries covered by CIT reliquidation orders; the initial group supplied valid IOR numbers by July 30. See the 7-step guide and Phase 3 checklist.
3. Protect protest deadlines. The 180-day protest window runs independently of CAPE. File protective protests on entries still inside the window. See the protest filing guide.
4. Get counsel review for finally liquidated entries. Ask trade counsel to assess the certified class definition, requested relief, potential overlap with other actions, and any independent deadlines for your entries. Request a free assessment for help routing the matter.
5. Track the new court checkpoints. The parties’ proposed scheduling order is due October 22. The next CAPE progress report is due October 26 at 5 p.m. Eastern, followed by a closed conference October 27 at 2 p.m. Eastern under ECF No. 60.

What to Watch Next

CBP has deployed the limited Phase 3 lane, and the court has certified a class. The next published checkpoints are the October 22 proposed schedule and the October 26/27 CAPE report and conference. These developments do not establish an automatic refund or a general Phase 3 lane. Watch the CAPE Update Tracker for dated updates.

Update — July 28, 2026: No Public Phase 3 Filing Lane Announced

• Judge Eaton’s July 17 reliquidation order (ECF No. 52) remains the latest material court action affecting finally liquidated IEEPA entries. It directs relief for plaintiffs in approximately 3,700 cases, not all importers.
• CBP’s IEEPA Duty Refunds page still lists Phase 1 and Phase 2 as the active phases and describes finally liquidated entries under functionality being evaluated for later phases. Source: CBP IEEPA Duty Refunds.
• The next scheduled checkpoints remain the August 4 progress report and August 5 closed settlement conference. Until then, importers should continue filing protective protests where the 180-day window remains open and obtain trade-counsel review for material finally liquidated claims.

Update — August 3, 2026: Class-Cert Briefing Moves Toward August 19 Oral Argument

• On July 28, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a 26-page response in opposition to Freestyle World’s motion to lift the stay and for class certification (ECF No. 18). DOJ asks the court to deny certification and argues the request is untimely and fails Rule 23. Source: DOJ response, July 28, 2026.
• Judge Eaton’s July 30, 2026 order (ECF No. 19) sets the plaintiff reply for August 14, a closed pre-oral argument conference for August 17 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, and oral argument for August 19 at 11:00 a.m. EDT in Courtroom 1, One Federal Plaza, New York. Source: Order, July 30, 2026.
• Zonos re-filed its amicus curiae motion and supporting brief in Freestyle World on July 30, 2026 (ECF No. 20), with responses due August 20. CBP also filed a notice of appearance on July 31. Source: Zonos motion, July 30, 2026; CourtListener docket.
• The practical guidance has not changed: class certification is contested, no general Phase 3 filing lane has been announced, and importers should continue filing protective protests and obtaining trade-counsel review for material finally liquidated claims.

Update — August 5, 2026: CAPE Pipeline Tops $100B; Next Checkpoint August 25

• CBP’s August 4, 2026 Lord Declaration (ECF No. 24) reports that as of 3:00 p.m. EDT on July 31, approximately $128.68 billion in potential and certified refunds had been accepted for CAPE processing and approximately $100 billion had been completed, certified, and sent to the Treasury for disbursement. Source: Lord Declaration, August 4, 2026 (ECF No. 24).
• The same declaration reports 19,726 refunds totaling approximately $1.6 billion still not transmitted to Treasury because ACH account information has not been provided. Source: Lord Declaration, August 4, 2026, ¶ 6.
• The August 5, 2026 CIT order (ECF No. 25) confirms the July 17 reliquidation order has been entered in more than 3,700 IEEPA cases, and sets the next CAPE progress report for August 25 and a closed settlement conference for August 26. Source: Order, August 5, 2026 (ECF No. 25).
• The practical posture is unchanged: class certification is contested, no general Phase 3 filing lane has been announced, and importers should continue filing protective protests and obtaining trade-counsel review for material finally liquidated claims.

Update — August 10, 2026: Court Asks CBP About Deleting IEEPA Deposit Records

• On August 7, 2026, Judge Eaton sent a letter to DOJ counsel Justin R. Miller asking whether CBP has “a protocol, of any kind” for deleting information relating to IEEPA estimated deposits on entries that entered the United States between February 1, 2025, and February 25, 2026 — the period during which IEEPA duties were collected. Source: Letter to DOJ, August 7, 2026 (ECF No. 26).
• The letter is an inquiry, not an order or a ruling. It does not change CAPE filing posture, and the next scheduled CBP progress report and closed settlement conference remain August 25 and August 26.
• The practical guidance is unchanged: class certification is contested, no general Phase 3 filing lane has been announced, and importers should continue filing protective protests and obtaining trade-counsel review for material finally liquidated claims.

Update — August 23, 2026: Phase 3 Delayed Without a New Opening Date

• An August 19 report at IEEPATariffRefunds.info says CBP told the CIT it could not roll out CAPE Phase 3 as planned and could not provide an opening date. A separate August 21 trade-law report from Diaz Trade Law describes Phase 3 as delayed until further notice and cites International Trade Today.
• These are secondary reports, not an official CBP deployment CSMS. CBP’s public IEEPA page continues to list Phase 1 and Phase 2 as the active program phases. Importers should not assume a Phase 3 filing lane exists; continue filing protective protests within the 180-day window and obtain counsel review for finally liquidated exposure.
• The August 25 CAPE progress report and August 26 closed settlement conference remain the next published checkpoints. The August 19 Freestyle World oral argument has passed, and no written class-certification ruling was verified in the available public materials as of this update.

Update — August 27, 2026: CBP Files Official Phase 3 and Refund Status

• CBP’s August 25 declaration confirms Phase 3 is temporarily delayed while the agency builds validations that prevent non-IEEPA duty adjustments during court-ordered reliquidation. Source: Lord Declaration, August 25, 2026 (ECF No. 38).
• CBP defines Phase 3 as covering finally liquidated entries filed by plaintiffs for which the CIT has ordered reliquidation. The filing does not announce a general administrative lane for non-litigants.
• As of August 21, CBP reported $132.5 billion accepted, $106.6 billion sent to Treasury, and 22,170 refunds totaling approximately $1.7 billion held for missing ACH information.
• No public post-conference order or written class-certification ruling was verified after the August 26 closed settlement conference. Importers should preserve available protest rights and obtain case-specific counsel review rather than waiting on an unresolved class motion.

Update — August 30, 2026: Court Orders a September Report; CBP Studies Entry-Data Question

• Judge Eaton’s August 27 order requires a short CAPE progress report by September 15, 2026 and schedules the next closed settlement conference for September 16 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. The court says more Phase 3 deployment information will be provided then. Source: CIT Order, ECF No. 40 (local reading copy).
• On August 27, Judge Eaton followed up on his earlier question about whether CBP has any protocol that could delete information relating to IEEPA entries from February 1, 2025 through February 25, 2026. Source: Court Letter, ECF No. 39.
• The government responded on August 28 that CBP is researching the question and can provide an answer at the September 16 conference. This is a pending factual inquiry, not a finding that entry data was deleted. Source: Government Response, ECF No. 42 (local reading copy).
• A separate August 27 order moved the Zonos/Qualified Parties conference concerning international postal IEEPA collections to October 1, 2026. It does not decide the class motion or create a CAPE path for postal shipments. Source: CIT Order, ECF No. 41.
• Class certification remains unresolved. Importers should not wait for a possible class ruling before preserving available protest rights or seeking counsel review for material finally liquidated entries.

Update — September 11, 2026: Government Response Slips to October 14; Sureties Enter the Case

• The government’s response to the complaint will now be filed on or before October 14, 2026, a 30-day extension granted by Judge Eaton on September 8 after DOJ cited parallel IEEPA deadlines, including a response in the Aditya Birla Chemicals USA Inc. and Pack Perfect Inc. v. Trump litigation (Court No. 26-00134) and oral argument in Performance Additives v. United States (Court No. 25-00394) scheduled for September 23. Sources: Consent Motion, ECF No. 46; Order, September 8, 2026 (ECF No. 47).
• Judge Eaton accepted an amicus brief from the International Trade Surety Association (filed September 3, accepted September 8). ITSA argues CAPE still does not account for the millions of dollars in IEEPA tariff payments that sureties made on importers’ behalf, an issue CBP’s prior outreach had flagged but not resolved. Sources: ITSA Motion, ECF No. 43; Order, ECF No. 48.
• Class certification remains unresolved. If you paid IEEPA duties through a customs surety bond, keep proof of the bond payment and the entry numbers involved; the surety-refund question is now directly before the court.
• As of this September 11 update, the September 15 progress report and September 16 conference were the next CAPE checkpoints. Both have since passed; see the September 22 update below. Continue protecting protest deadlines on entries still within 180 days of liquidation.

Update — September 22, 2026: Plaintiff Phase 3 Gets a Planned Date

• CBP’s September 15 Lord Declaration, ECF No. 50 plans Phase 3 deployment for October 6. First-day filing is for plaintiffs with court-ordered reliquidation of finally liquidated entries who gave CBP a valid IOR number by July 30; later submitters await additional instructions.
• The September 17 CIT order, ECF No. 52 records that the September 16 conference occurred and directs a new progress report October 6, followed by a closed conference October 7. It does not decide class certification or require universal refunds.
• As of September 11, CBP reported $134.7 billion accepted for CAPE processing, approximately $122 billion certified and sent to Treasury, and 20,184 refunds totaling about $1.3 billion not transmitted for lack of ACH information. Source: ECF No. 50. Non-plaintiffs should continue eligible CAPE filings, preserve protest rights where available, and seek CIT advice for material finally liquidated entries.

Update — October 5, 2026: Zonos Amicus Denied; Surety Refund Work Remains Unresolved

• October 2: Judge Eaton denied Zonos’s motion for leave to file an amicus curiae brief, ECF No. 20. The one-page order does not decide postal-duty refund entitlement, class certification, or CAPE Phase 3 eligibility. Source: CIT Order, ECF No. 57 (local reading copy). The September 22 order accepting a reply, ECF No. 54, was permission to file that reply, not acceptance of the amicus motion.
• September 25: ITSA counsel reported that CBP had discussed programming changes for surety refunds but that ITSA had no actual programming progress, implementation timetable, or next meeting to report. Counsel also reported CBP’s statement that 660 claims had been filed by others on entries identified as involving surety-paid duties, and that CBP had not paid refunds on those identified entries. These are statements in ITSA’s letter, not independent findings by the court or a new CBP deployment announcement. Source: ITSA Letter, ECF No. 56 (local reading copy).
• Class status: plaintiff counsel’s case page, last updated September 24 and checked October 5, says the court has not yet decided certification. No later written class-certification ruling was verified in this review; incomplete public docket coverage is not proof that PACER contains no additional filings.
• Importer action: confirm who actually paid each entry’s IEEPA duties. Separate importer-paid, surety-paid, and international-postal records before deciding how to file; a general October 6 opening for the latter groups was not verified. Continue eligible CAPE filings, preserve available protest rights, and obtain counsel review for claims outside the confirmed lanes.

Update — October 14, 2026: Class Certified; Phase 3 Deployed

• Class ruling: Slip Op. 26-123 certifies a Rule 23(b)(2) class of importers of record that paid duties under the challenged IEEPA tariff orders from February 1, 2025 through February 19, 2026, except entities that separately filed an action seeking recovery of IEEPA payments. Certification does not itself grant an injunction, order liquidation or reliquidation, direct refunds, or establish a CAPE filing procedure for class members. Source: CIT opinion.
• Phase 3: CBP says it successfully deployed the limited lane at 5:10 a.m. Eastern on October 6 for finally liquidated entries filed by plaintiffs with a CIT reliquidation order. The initial cohort had provided a valid IOR number by July 30; later submitters await instructions. Source: CBP declaration, ECF No. 58.
• New processing checkpoint: The court’s October 8 order records its understanding that, by October 7, Phase 3 had accepted declarations covering 1.1 million entries and $500 million in claimed refunds. The same order sets the next CBP report for October 26 at 5 p.m. Eastern and a closed conference for October 27 at 2 p.m. Eastern. Source: ECF No. 60.
• The October 13 closed-conference date has passed. Neither whether it occurred nor any outcome was verifiable in the accessible docket as of October 14; the parties must submit a proposed scheduling order by October 22. This public-docket check is not an exhaustive PACER audit.
• Keep class certification separate from refund entitlement and filing mechanics. Verify the class definition with counsel, preserve available deadlines, and do not add finally liquidated entries to a CAPE declaration unless the specific court and CBP instructions authorize them.

Update — October 22, 2026: Appellate Brief Seeks Clear Refund Guidance

• Separately from Freestyle World, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Technology Association filed an amicus brief on October 13 supporting appellees in the consolidated Federal Circuit appeals, Nos. 26-1895, -1897, and -1899. They ask the court to affirm the CIT order on appeal or, alternatively, give importers clear guidance on preserving refund rights. The amici argue that an early-2027 decision is important to avoid time bars if individual CIT filings are required. This is advocacy in a separate appeal, not a ruling on the Freestyle World class case. Read the brief.
• The parties’ proposed scheduling order in Freestyle World is due October 22 under ECF No. 60; filing status was not verified in the accessible public record checked for this update. The next CAPE report remains due October 26 at 5 p.m. Eastern, followed by a closed conference October 27 at 2 p.m. Eastern.
• For a 28 USC 1581(i) action, 28 USC 2636(i) provides a two-year period from when the cause of action first accrues, but does not fix a uniform accrual date for IEEPA refund claims. Attorney analyses differ; some identify potential deadlines beginning in 2027, with earlier dates possible for earlier-liquidating entries. Do not rely on a blanket 2028 deadline; ask counsel to calculate dates entry by entry and preserve available protest rights separately. See the October 19 analysis.

Source Notes

Sources: CIT, Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 25-00595, July 15, 2026 order (ECF No. 46); Lord Declaration, July 13, 2026 (ECF No. 45); Zonos amicus response, July 16, 2026 (ECF No. 47); Notice of Dismissal, July 16, 2026 (ECF No. 48); Order denying amicus motion, July 17, 2026 (ECF No. 49); Letter to Sandler re: Zonos amicus re-filing, July 17, 2026 (ECF No. 50); Order of Dismissal, July 17, 2026 (ECF No. 51); Reliquidation Order, July 17, 2026 (ECF No. 52); DOJ response, July 28, 2026 (ECF No. 18); Order, July 30, 2026 (ECF No. 19); Zonos amicus motion, July 30, 2026 (ECF No. 20); CourtListener Freestyle World docket; CIT, Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01088; CIT, V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. United States, No. 25-00066. CAPE Portal Guide is not a law firm, customs broker, or government agency.