What changed
UPS lawsuit at the Court of International Trade to make CBP reliquidate entries, including finally liquidated ones, and refund IEEPA duties with interest
When
Filed Friday, November 6, 2026; reported November 10, 2026
Who it affects
UPS, United Parcel Service Oasis Supply Corp and UPS Supply Chain Solutions, for entries where UPS was importer of record; customers who paid the duty cost
What to do
Pull every 2025 UPS invoice with duty charges, total the IEEPA lines, and ask UPS for an entry level refund statement

Key takeaways

  • UPS sued CBP on November 6, 2026 to force IEEPA refunds plus interest on entries where it was importer of record, including finally liquidated entries.
  • UPS had received about $500 million in refunds and still owed customers about $270 million at the start of October.
  • Brands that paid duties on UPS invoices should total their IEEPA lines and ask UPS for a refund statement now.

How the UPS refund fight got here

  1. Supreme Court rules IEEPA tariffs unlawful

  2. CAPE Phase 1 opens; UPS says it will not sue

  3. CAPE Phase 2 opens

  4. Phase 3 opens for finally liquidated entries; court order needed

  5. UPS sues CBP at the trade court for refunds plus interest

What UPS filed and why

The suit was brought by three UPS entities: UPS, United Parcel Service Oasis Supply Corp and UPS Supply Chain Solutions. It asks the court to compel CBP to reliquidate entries, including entries that are already finally liquidated, and to refund the IEEPA duties together with accrued interest, according to The Loadstar. The Supreme Court ruled those tariffs unlawful on February 20, 2026.

The reason is a gap in CBP's refund system, called CAPE. Phase 1 opened in April for unliquidated entries and entries liquidated in the prior 80 days. Phase 2 followed in June. Phase 3 opened in October for finally liquidated entries, but CBP's position is that it can only pay those if the importer holds a reliquidation order from the trade court. UPS says the suit is meant to preserve its own and its customers' rights to the money. Our earlier report on IEEPA tariff refunds explains the CAPE phases and the class action in more detail.

The number most coverage skips: money already refunded but not passed on

UPS has received about $500 million from CBP through CAPE so far. Its latest quarterly filings show that by the start of October it had passed about $230 million of that to customers, with about $270 million still owed, per The Loadstar. In other words, more than half the refund money UPS has already collected had not yet reached the shippers and buyers who paid the duty bills.

That is separate from the entries the lawsuit targets. So a brand that imported through UPS may have two buckets of money: refunds UPS has received but not yet paid out, and refunds on finally liquidated entries that depend on this lawsuit or on the wider class case.

UPS IEEPA refunds, start of October 2026

$500Mreceived from CBP via CAPE
$230Mpassed to customers
$270Mstill owed to customers
Source: UPS quarterly filings via The Loadstar, Nov 10, 2026

Why UPS changed its mind

On its first quarter call in April, UPS chief executive Carol Tome said the company's approach was to work with the US government and not to sue it, as Fortune reported on April 29. She estimated about $5 billion of refunds would become available to UPS and said the money would go back to customers. FedEx took the other path and sued in February for a full refund plus interest, fees and costs, per the same Fortune report.

Interest is part of the reason suing now matters. A Cato Institute estimate cited by the American Association of Exporters and Importers put interest on unpaid IEEPA refunds at about $700 million a month across all importers. Consumer class actions have also been filed against carriers asking for refunds to reach the people who actually paid, per the same AAEI roundup, so carriers have reason to show they are pursuing every dollar.

So what: the math for a brand that shipped through UPS

Worked example, illustrative numbers: a supplement brand brought in 300 express shipments of samples and packaging from China during 2025. UPS cleared them as importer of record and billed the brand $48,000 in duties, of which $36,000 were IEEPA tariff lines. If half of those entries are refunds UPS has already collected, $18,000 is cash UPS owes the brand now. The other $18,000 sits on finally liquidated entries and depends on the court.

At a $9 profit per unit, $36,000 equals the profit on 4,000 units. For a brand spending $20,000 a month on Amazon ads, it is almost two months of budget. The work to claim it is a few hours of finance time.

What sellers should do this week

Most of this is finance and logistics work. The goal is to know your number before UPS's payouts and the court timeline move.

  • Finance lead: export every UPS invoice from February 2025 to February 2026 that carries duty or tax charges, and total the IEEPA lines separately from Section 301 and other duties. Metric: one dollar figure for IEEPA duties paid through UPS.
  • Finance lead: check whether UPS or your own company was importer of record on each entry. If you used your own IOR number with UPS only as broker, you claim through CAPE yourself. Metric: entries split into UPS IOR and own IOR.
  • Operations lead: contact your UPS account representative or billing support and ask for an entry level refund statement showing refunds received, refunds paid to you and refunds pending. Metric: written confirmation of the amount pending.
  • Finance lead: if your supplier shipped delivered duty paid and paid UPS, ask the supplier in writing whether it will share any refund. Metric: a reply on file before your next purchase order.
  • Brand owner: book any refund received as one off income, not margin, so you do not set ad budgets on cash that will not repeat. Metric: unit margin in the Amazon profit calculator excludes refunds.

Claim what UPS owes you

  • Export 2025 UPS invoices with duties
  • Split IEEPA lines from Section 301
  • Mark UPS IOR vs own IOR entries
  • Ask UPS for a refund statement
  • Ask DDP suppliers about sharing refunds
  • Book refunds as one off income

When this does not apply

If you were your own importer of record, this suit does not cover you: your refund runs through CAPE, the class case or your own suit, as our guide to importer of record rules explains. If you only paid Section 301 or Section 232 duties, IEEPA refunds do not cover those. If your goods came by ocean freight with a different broker, UPS has no role. Court outcomes and timing are not settled, so read this as news, not legal advice, and speak to a licensed customs broker or trade attorney before you rely on any number.

Where PPC Spider helps

A refund is a good moment to rebuild your plan on real margins. Our Amazon policy updates channel tracks tariff and customs changes as they happen, and our Amazon account management team sets bids and budgets from product margin after fees. If you want a second look at where your ad money goes, start with a free Amazon audit.

Sources

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