Freestyle World Takes Over as IEEPA Refund Lead Case

The lead IEEPA refund case at the Court of International Trade (CIT) is changing hands. On July 16, 2026, Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. filed a voluntary notice of dismissal in Euro-Notions Florida, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 25-00595 - the case Judge Richard K. Eaton has used to supervise CBP’s CAPE refund program since April. The shift was already planned: the court’s July 15 order disclosed Euro-Notions’ intention to dismiss and named Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01088, as the successor lead case, where a motion for class certification is now pending.

Current update, September 22: CBP plans a limited October 6 Phase 3 deployment for court-covered plaintiffs, not a general filing lane. Its September 15 declaration gives the first group a July 30 IOR-submission cutoff. The September 17 order requires another report October 6 and a closed conference October 7. See our Phase 3 eligibility checklist for importer action steps.

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 does not end the broader IEEPA refund litigation. Judge Eaton said the court will lift the stay in Freestyle World, Inc. v. United States, Court No. 26-01088 - a separate IEEPA refund case in which a motion for class certification is currently pending. 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 most important development for importers is the pending class-certification motion in Freestyle World. To date, the government’s position has been that importers with finally liquidated IEEPA entries - entries where the 180-day protest window has closed and the entry is administratively final - must file their own individual CIT lawsuits to recover refunds. That has left millions of finally liquidated entries in legal limbo, with Phase 3 of CAPE still under development.

A certified plaintiff class would change that calculus. If the CIT certifies a class under Rule 23, importers who fit the class definition could potentially recover refunds as class members without filing individual complaints. That could open a path for non-litigant importers whose entries are otherwise locked out of CAPE Phase 1 and Phase 2.

Two important caveats:

1. Class certification is not guaranteed. The court has not yet ruled on the motion, and Rule 23 requires the plaintiffs to show numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy of representation. The government filed a formal opposition on July 28 (ECF No. 18).
2. There is still no public Phase 3 filing lane. Judge Eaton issued the anticipated reliquidation order on July 17 (ECF No. 52), but it applies only to plaintiffs in approximately 3,700 court-assigned IEEPA cases. CBP has not announced a generally available Phase 3 declaration workflow for non-litigants.

Importers with material finally liquidated exposure should continue treating individual counsel review as the reliable preservation step. Class membership, if it materializes, would be additive - not a substitute for protecting your own 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 20,184 refunds totaling about $1.3 billion not transmitted because ACH information was missing as of September 11. Source: September 15 Lord Declaration, ECF No. 50. Verify yours in ACE before filing; see our ACH enrollment guide.
2. File Phase 1 and Phase 2-eligible entries now. Phase 3 is not live. Clean unliquidated entries and reconciliation-flagged entries (Entry Types 01, 02, 06 without a Type 09 on file) remain the fastest path to refund. See the 7-step guide.
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. If you have material exposure on finally liquidated entries, do not wait for the Freestyle World class ruling or Phase 3. Ask trade counsel whether an individual 28 USC 1581(i) complaint is appropriate for your portfolio. Request a free assessment and we will connect you with vetted trade counsel.
5. Watch the current court checkpoints. The August 25 progress declaration and August 26 closed settlement conference have passed. Class certification remains unresolved in the available public materials, so watch for a written order or new plaintiff instructions.

What to Watch Next

The next material developments are likely to be: (1) CBP’s official Phase 3 operating instructions, (2) the October 6 CAPE progress report and October 7 closed conference, and (3) a written class-certification ruling or further docket order in Freestyle World. The September 15 filing sets a planned, plaintiff-specific Phase 3 date; do not treat it as a general filing lane. Sources: CBP declaration, ECF No. 50 and CIT order, ECF No. 52. Watch the CAPE Update Tracker on our home page for official 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 Aditya Chemicals v. United States (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.

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.