Glossary · Form GLO-01

Every CBP, CAPE, and IEEPA term, defined.

Customs abbreviations accumulate. Bookmark this page. Every term on un-tariff links back here.

80-day cliff: CBP's CAPE eligibility rule: a refund can be claimed for an entry up to 80 days after its liquidation date. Past that, recovery moves to a formal protest under 19 CFR 174.
ACE Portal: Automated Commercial Environment Secure Data Portal. CBP's web-based gateway for importers, brokers, and CBP staff to file entry summaries, view status, and (from Apr 20, 2026) submit CAPE Declarations.
ACH: Automated Clearing House. The bank-to-bank electronic payment network CBP uses to disburse refunds. Each importer has an ACH payer ID on file.
CAPE: Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries. CBP's refund channel for IEEPA duties, introduced via CSMS in April 2026 and deployed Apr 20, 2026. Accepts CSV declarations with up to 9,999 entry numbers per file.
CAPE Declaration: The CSV file uploaded to CAPE. One column, 14-digit entry numbers, UTF-8, CRLF, no header. CBP derives principal and interest from its own records.
CBP: US Customs and Border Protection. The Department of Homeland Security agency responsible for collecting duties and administering the CAPE refund channel.
Chapter 99: Chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule — the catch-all chapter for trade remedies. IEEPA tariffs lived under Chapter 99 HTS subheadings that mirrored the executive orders imposing them.
CSMS: Cargo Systems Messaging Service. CBP's bulletin channel for trade-policy announcements. All CAPE deployment details shipped as CSMS messages.
CSV: Comma-separated values. The file format CAPE accepts. un-tariff produces a CBP-compliant CSV: UTF-8, CRLF, no header, single column.
Dutiable value: The value of imported merchandise used to compute ad-valorem duty. For IEEPA tranches the applied rate (7.5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) multiplied against dutiable value is the IEEPA principal.
Entry: A single shipment of imported merchandise, identified by a 14-digit entry number. One entry may have many HTS lines; each line can have its own duty treatment.
Entry Summary (Form 7501): The CBP document that declares an entry's HTS classifications, values, and duties. The ACE Entry Summary export gives you the CAPE-relevant data in bulk.
Executive Order 14193, 14194, 14195, 14245, 14257, 14323, 14329, 14380, 14382: The nine executive orders that imposed the IEEPA tariffs between Feb 2025 and Feb 2026. All invalidated by the Feb 22, 2026 'Ending Certain Tariff Actions' order following the SCOTUS ruling.
Filer Code: A three-digit CBP-issued identifier for entities authorized to file entries. Brokers have their own; importers filing directly (self-filers) also have one. Required on CAPE Declarations.
HTS: Harmonized Tariff Schedule (of the United States). The classification system for imported merchandise. IEEPA eligibility is keyed to HTS subheading plus the executive order in effect on the entry date.
HTS registry: un-tariff's versioned table of which HTS subheadings were subject to IEEPA tariffs and when. Backed by Chapter 99 and the Federal Register. Every classification traces back to a registry row.
IEEPA: International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. §§ 1701 et seq.). The statute the executive branch invoked to impose the invalidated tariffs. The Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources that IEEPA does not authorize tariffs.
IEEPA window: Feb 1, 2025 through Feb 7, 2026. The date range of entries potentially eligible for IEEPA refunds. Entries outside the window fall under different tariff regimes and are not CAPE-refundable.
IOR: Importer of Record. The legal entity responsible for the entry, for paying the duty, and — now — for receiving the refund. Identified by IOR number (usually an EIN or SSN).
Interest (CBP overpayment): Interest CBP pays on refunded duty at quarterly rates published under 19 CFR 24.3a, compounded daily from the entry's payment date to the refund date. Currently ~8% annualized.
Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump: 607 U.S. ___ (2026), docket 24-1287. The Feb 20, 2026 Supreme Court decision holding 6-3 that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion.
Liquidation: CBP's final determination of duties on an entry. Normally occurs within 314 days of entry filing. Starts the clock on the 80-day CAPE cliff and the 180-day protest window.
Liquidation date: The date CBP liquidated a given entry. Published on the entry record in ACE. Without this date, cliff computation is impossible — if the column is empty, the entry is still unliquidated.
Protest (19 CFR 174): Formal challenge to a CBP decision on an entry, filed on Form 19 within 180 days of liquidation. The recovery path for IEEPA entries past the 80-day CAPE cliff. Out of scope in un-tariff Phase 1.
Reliquidation (19 CFR 173.3): CBP's authority to adjust a liquidated entry's duty within 90 days of liquidation. CAPE works by reliquidation on the refund side. Past 90 days, only a protest can reopen.
Section 122: Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. Grants the President authority to impose tariffs up to 15% for up to 150 days to address trade deficits. Used as the replacement tariff statute after IEEPA was invalidated.
Section 232: Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. Authorizes tariffs on national-security grounds. Unaffected by the IEEPA ruling; Section 232 tariffs remain collected.
Section 301: Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. Authorizes tariffs in response to unfair foreign trade practices. Unaffected by the IEEPA ruling; Section 301 tariffs remain collected.
Stacking: When a single entry line paid more than one tariff — for example, IEEPA plus Section 232. CAPE refunds only the IEEPA portion. un-tariff rule IEEPA-005 handles the separation.
Tranche: Informal term for one of the several executive-order-driven tariff rates that applied during the IEEPA window: 7.5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%. Each tranche had its own HTS scope and effective dates.
USMCA: United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. Grants preferential (often zero) duty treatment to qualifying goods. USMCA-qualifying entries were excluded from some IEEPA tranches; un-tariff rule IEEPA-006 flags these.
VAL-F / VAL-E / VAL-I: CBP's three validation-rule families for CAPE submissions: VAL-F (file-level — encoding, row count, duplicates), VAL-E (entry-level — exists in CBP records, IEEPA window, liquidation), VAL-I (identity — IOR, filer code, ACH payer ID match).