In this week’s Roar: Air cargo rates up, electronic tariff refund Phase 1, new emergency surcharges, the state of the global maritime system, and how AI is handling operational bottlenecks. Since mid-March, air cargo rates are up 10% as the war in Iran has squeezed capacity, pushed up oil prices, and disrupted flights across the Middle East. Jet fuel costs have nearly doubled, resulting in new surcharges on many routes. For shipments where time is of the essence, there are now frequent delays averaging...

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Today, April 20, 2026, marks a significant milestone for importers seeking to recover duties paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has officially launched the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) Phase 1 functionality within CBP’s digital system for processing imports and exports—the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). Following the invalidation of certain IEEPA-based tariffs, CAPE serves as the primary administrative mechanism for securing refunds. However, CAPE is not a “blanket” refund process. CBP...

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued operational guidance for obtaining refunds of duties paid under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), implementing a new electronic process through the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries (CAPE) tool in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal). Beginning April 20, 2026, CAPE will be the exclusive mechanism for submitting IEEPA refund claims for entries that include at least one dutiable IEEPA Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States...

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In a previous alert, we reported that the U.S. Supreme Court had found President Donald Trump’s tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to be illegal. We subsequently reported that the U.S. Court of International Trade (“the Court”), in an effort to implement the Supreme Court decision, had ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to issue refunds “automatically” to importers that previously paid IEEPA duties to CBP. In recent days, there have been significant developments: • The U.S. Court of International...

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On April 2, President Trump issued a proclamation titled “Strengthening Actions Taken to Adjust Imports of Aluminum, Steel, and Copper into the United States” (the Proclamation) under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (Section 232). The Proclamation substantially increases Section 232 tariff rates on many aluminum, steel, and copper products, shifts to applying those tariffs to the full customs value of covered imports, restructures which products are covered through new annexes to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the...

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In this week’s Roar: Tariff refunds are beginning, global fuel is climbing, China and the Panama Canal, the seafarers stranded in the Middle East, and a surge in global air cargo demand. As a quick trade update, note that announcements were made last week impacting some metals and pharmaceutical tariffs. Click to read the Metals Fact Sheet and the Executive Order pertaining to Pharmaceuticals. It’s no longer a matter of if… only when. Finally, the CBP says it will begin refunding tariffs collected under the International Emergency...

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In brief What happened? Despite extensive negotiations at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) held in Cameroon between 26-30 March 2026, Members failed to reach agreement on extending the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions. The moratorium has now expired, as of 30 March 2026. The moratorium had been in place since 1998, preventing WTO Members from imposing customs duties on digitally delivered products such as software, audiovisual content, and other electronic transmissions. In parallel, 66 WTO...

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