$71 Billion Matters: Your 14:00 Freight Pulse Guide to Phase 2 Tariff Refunds

The biggest refund in U.S. customs history is moving into Phase 2, and if your brand isn’t registered in the ACE/CAPE portal, you’re leaving capital on the table. Following the Supreme Court’s strike-down of IEEPA-based duties, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has officially unlocked the next $28.7 billion in the $170 billion refund pool.

The Phase 2 Scope

Launched late last week, Phase 2 targets unliquidated reconciliation (Type 09) entries and specific AD/CVD filings. For growing e-commerce brands and enterprises, this is the critical window to reclaim duties paid between February 2025 and February 2026. However, there is a catch: if your entries liquidated more than 80 days ago, you are likely headed for Phase 3: which now requires active litigation in the Court of International Trade (CIT) due to a recent DOJ appeal.

The Litigation Cliff

The Department of Justice is currently seeking a stay on universal refunds for older entries. This means "passive" importers could be locked out of their share of the remaining $71 billion in contested funds unless they file their own CIT lawsuits. At Lanta Logistics, we’re seeing mid-market brands scramble to reconcile their data before the two-year filing deadline expires.

Why 3PL Maryland Expertise Matters

Navigating these shifts requires more than just a warehouse; it requires a partner with visibility. As a food-grade warehouse and Hazmat certified 3PL based in our Glen Burnie warehouse hub, we help our partners maintain the clean data sets required for seamless CBP reliquidation. Whether you are scaling e-commerce or managing industrial imports, your Mid-Atlantic fulfillment strategy must account for these sudden liquidity injections.

Ensure your ACH refund enrollment is active and your customs broker has flagged all IEEPA-eligible entries today.

Contact Lanta Logistics today to streamline your Mid-Atlantic fulfillment and ensure your supply chain execution is built on performance, not paperwork.