The IEEPA Tariffs Are Dead — Here's What U.S. Importers Actually Owe Now

The Supreme Court erased an entire layer of duties this year. Some of what you paid may be refundable — but the tariffs that replaced IEEPA are still very much on your invoice.

On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court ended the IEEPA tariffs. In a 6-3 opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court held, in its own words, that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs". The logic was almost mundane: the power to tax belongs to Congress, and a 1977 emergency-powers statute that never mentions tariffs or duties doesn't hand that power to the President. For anyone who watched their landed cost balloon last year, this is the rare ruling that lands straight on the invoice.

What actually got struck down

The decision wiped out the two IEEPA programs. The first was the "drug trafficking" set: a 25% duty on most Canadian and Mexican imports and a 10% duty on most Chinese goods, later raised to 20%. The second was the sweeping "reciprocal" program a duty of at least 10% on imports from all trading partners, with dozens of nations facing higher rates, escalating on Chinese goods to a 145% effective peak. Both are gone.

Here's the trap: this did not make your imports duty-free. It removed one layer. The rest of the stack is intact.

What's still standing (and it's a lot)

Sections 301 and 232 rest on different statutes and survived the ruling untouched the Court even noted that Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act expressly references duties and carries its own investigation procedure. And the administration moved the same day to backfill the gap.

First came a bridge. Using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, the President imposed a temporary 10% ad valorem surcharge on imports, effective February 24, 2026, for 150 days. Worth knowing: Section 122 allows a surcharge of up to 15%, but the rate actually imposed was 10% and importantly, it did not stack on Section 232 tariffs, and it exempted goods qualifying under USMCA and the CAFTA-DR. That surcharge expired on July 24, 2026. Imposing a Temporary Import Surcharge to Address Fundamental International Payments Problems +3

As the bridge lapsed, the permanent replacement took over. On July 23, 2026, USTR took final Section 301 action against 60 economies for failing to enforce forced-labor import bans. The structure importers now live with: a 10% rate for 17 named economies including Canada, Mexico, India, and the United Kingdom and 12.5% for all other investigated economies, with a 10%-or-12.5% net-of-MFN rate for certain products of the EU, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Switzerland, plus product-specific exemptions for raw materials and goods that would cause economy-wide disruption. USTR Takes Action in Forced Labor Section 301 Investigations +2

Then layer on Section 232, still in force at elevated rates: 50% on steel, aluminum, and copper (effective April 6, 2026), plus 25% on foreign cars, small trucks, and auto parts, with exemptions for USMCA-covered products.

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Translation for your cost sheet: the "reciprocal" headline tariff is gone, but a China-origin product can still carry a base HTS duty, a Section 301 rate, and a Section 232 metal duty stacked together. Model each line — don't assume.

The refund window nobody should sleep on

This is where the ruling becomes cash. Because the Court found IEEPA duties invalid from inception, importers who paid them may be owed money back. CBP is processing repayment through a phased system it calls CAPE, and per its own guidance, valid IEEPA refunds are generally issued within 60–90 days after acceptance of a CAPE declaration, unless a compliance review is triggered. But the path depends entirely on where your entry sits in the liquidation cycle: cbp

Not yet, or recently, liquidated: the smooth lane — CBP can reliquidate without the IEEPA duties. Finally liquidated (past the protest window): CBP's position is that it needs your own court judgment. That means a suit at the Court of International Trade, which has exclusive jurisdiction over actions arising out of laws providing for tariffs under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i). On the bubble: a protest under 19 U.S.C. § 1514 must be filed within 180 days of liquidation — miss it and you may forfeit the claim.

One detail with teeth: only the importer of record can ask CBP for the refund. If you're a distributor or downstream buyer, your recovery runs through your contract with the importer, not through CBP.

What this means for you

If you imported into the U.S. in 2025, do three things this week:

Pull your entry data from ACE and flag every line that carried an IEEPA duty — drug-trafficking or reciprocal. Sort those entries by liquidation date. Anything nearing 180 days is a deadline, not a to-do. Talk to your customs broker or trade counsel before filing the finally-liquidated bucket likely needs a CIT action to preserve your rights.

Then rebuild your landed-cost model around what's actually in force now: base HTS + Section 301 + Section 232, minus the IEEPA layer. The tariff that vanished is the easy one to celebrate. The ones still standing are the ones that quietly wreck a quote.

This article is informational and is not legal or customs advice. Consult a licensed customs broker or trade attorney for your specific entries.

SOURCES (all links opened and verified; tracking parameters removed)

U.S. Supreme Court (primary) — Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, 607 U.S. 229 (Feb 20, 2026): https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/607us2r12_8nj9.pdf The White House (primary) — Proclamation imposing the temporary 10% Section 122 surcharge: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/02/imposing-a-temporary-import-surcharge-to-address-fundamental-international-payments-problems/ USTR (primary) — Final Section 301 forced-labor action, 60 economies (July 23, 2026): https://www.ustr.gov/about/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2026/july/ustr-takes-action-forced-labor-section-301-investigations U.S. Customs and Border Protection (primary) — IEEPA Duty Refunds / CAPE: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/trade-remedies/ieepa-duty-refunds Grant Thornton (secondary — Section 232 rate summary): https://www.grantthornton.com/insights/alerts/tax/2026/insights/the-trump-administration-new-tariff-road-map