How to Pull Your ACE Portal Data for an IEEPA Tariff Refund

Everything about your IEEPA tariff refund starts with one document: the ES-003 Entry Summary Details report from CBP’s ACE portal. It contains every entry summary line filed during the IEEPA period, including the HTS codes that identify which duties are refundable and the exact amounts you paid. Without it, you can’t file a claim through CAPE, you can’t calculate your refund, and you can’t verify your data is clean enough for automated processing.

This guide walks you through pulling that report, field by field. Whether you’re logging into ACE yourself or asking your broker to do it, you’ll know exactly what to request and what to look for.

Before you start: what you need

To access the ACE portal directly, you need:

• An ACE portal account — if you’re an importer of record, you likely already have one. Your Importer of Record (IOR) number is your login identifier.
• Active credentials — your username and password for ace.cbp.dhs.gov. If you haven’t logged in recently, you may need to reset your password.
• The right role — your ACE account must have the “Importer” or “Broker” role with access to Entry Summary reports.

If you don’t have direct ACE portal access — and many importers don’t, relying instead on their customs broker for all CBP interactions — skip to the “If you don’t have ACE access” section below.

Step 1: Log into the ACE portal

Navigate to ace.cbp.dhs.gov in your web browser. Enter your username and password. If you’re prompted for multi-factor authentication, complete it.

Once logged in, you’ll see the ACE Secure Data Portal dashboard. The main navigation menu runs along the left side or top of the screen, depending on your display settings.

Common issue: If your account has been inactive for more than 90 days, it may have been deactivated. You’ll need to contact CBP’s ACE helpdesk at (866) 530-4172 to reactivate it. This can take 1-3 business days, so don’t wait until the day you need the data.

Common issue: If you’ve changed companies or your company has changed IOR numbers since your account was created, your ACE account may still be linked to the old IOR. Contact the helpdesk to update your account association.

Step 2: Navigate to the reports section

From the dashboard, navigate to Reports in the main menu. Depending on your ACE version and role, this may appear as “Reports,” “Account Reports,” or under a “Tools” submenu.

Within the Reports section, you’re looking for Entry Summary Reports. There are several report types available — the one you want is:

ES-003: Entry Summary Details

This is the comprehensive, line-level report that shows every entry summary filed under your IOR number, broken down by individual tariff line. Other reports (ES-001, ES-002) provide summary-level data, but they don’t give you the line-level detail you need for IEEPA refund claims.

Step 3: Set your date range

This is critical. You need to cover the full IEEPA tariff period: entries filed from February 4, 2025 (the date the first IEEPA executive orders took effect) through February 24, 2026 (the date the Supreme Court’s ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump invalidated the tariffs).

Set the parameters:

• Start date: February 4, 2025
• End date: February 24, 2026
• Date type: Entry Date (not filing date, not liquidation date — you want the date the goods entered the U.S.)

If you set the date range too narrow, you’ll miss entries. If you set it too broad, you’ll include entries outside the IEEPA period that aren’t eligible for refunds. The exact dates above capture the complete universe of potentially refundable entries.

Important note: Some importers have entries with entry dates just before February 4, 2025, that were still subject to IEEPA tariffs due to tariff rate changes that took effect on specific goods on slightly different dates. For maximum coverage, you might extend the start date back a few days. But February 4, 2025, captures the vast majority of IEEPA entries.

Step 4: Select your data fields

The ES-003 report allows you to customize which fields are included. For IEEPA refund purposes, you need all of these:

Select all available fields if the interface allows it. More data is always better for validation purposes. You can filter down later.

Step 5: Export as CSV

Once you’ve configured the report parameters and selected your fields, generate the report and export it as a CSV file. CSV is the most versatile format — you can open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or any data analysis tool.

Depending on the volume of your entries, the export may take a few minutes to generate. If you have thousands of entries during the IEEPA period, the file may be large. ACE may break it into multiple files if it exceeds the system’s per-file limit.

Save the file with a clear name: something like ES003_IEEPA_Feb2025-Feb2026_[YourCompanyName].csv. You’ll be referencing this file repeatedly throughout the refund process.

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Step 6: What each field means for your refund

Now that you have the data, here’s how to read it through the lens of IEEPA refund eligibility:

Entry Summary Number

This is your unique identifier for each entry. Every claim you file through CAPE will reference specific entry summary numbers. Make sure each entry in your file has a valid, complete entry summary number. If you see blanks or partial numbers, something went wrong with the export — re-pull the report.

HTS Number

This is the field that determines eligibility. You’re looking for HTS codes under two headings:

• 9903.01.xx — fentanyl-related IEEPA tariffs (applied primarily to imports from China, Mexico, and Canada)
• 9903.02.xx — reciprocal/Liberation Day IEEPA tariffs (applied to imports from most countries)

Only these codes are eligible for IEEPA refunds. If you see other Chapter 99 codes — 9903.88.xx (Section 301), 9903.80.xx (Section 232), or other trade remedy codes — those are not refundable under the Supreme Court ruling. Don’t include them in your CAPE claim.

Our HTS code reference guide provides a complete breakdown of which codes qualify and which don’t.

Duty Amount

This is the amount CBP assessed on each line for the IEEPA tariff. It’s the basis for your refund claim. Cross-reference this against your broker invoices and accounts payable records. If the amounts don’t match, investigate before filing — discrepancies are the number one trigger for manual review in CAPE and will delay your refund.

Common reasons for mismatches:

• Your broker invoice includes non-duty fees (MPF, HMF, broker processing fees) bundled with the duty amount
• A post-summary correction was filed that amended the duty after initial filing
• Partial duties were paid on an entry that was subsequently amended

Liquidation Status and Date

These two fields together tell you which recovery path applies to each entry:

• Unliquidated — eligible for Post-Summary Correction (PSC), the fastest refund path
• Liquidated — check the liquidation date. If it’s within the last 180 days, you can file a formal protest. If it’s older than 180 days, you may need CIT litigation or claim assignment.

For entries approaching the 180-day mark, don’t wait for CAPE. File a protective protest now to preserve your rights while you prepare your CAPE claim.

Country of Origin

Different IEEPA executive orders applied different tariff rates to different countries. The country of origin field helps you identify which executive order provision applies to each entry and verify that the correct tariff rate was assessed. This is particularly relevant for entries under 9903.01 (fentanyl), where different rates applied to China, Mexico, and Canada.

If you don’t have ACE access

Many importers — especially small and mid-size companies — don’t interact with ACE directly. Their customs broker handles all CBP filings and reporting. If that’s you, here’s what to do:

Ask your broker for the ES-003

Send your broker a request (we’ve included a template below) asking them to pull the ES-003 Entry Summary Details report for the full IEEPA period. Specify that you need the complete, line-level report — not a summary.

Template email to your broker

Subject: Request for ES-003 Entry Summary Details — IEEPA Refund Preparation

Hi [Broker Name],

In preparation for IEEPA tariff refund claims following the Supreme Court ruling in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, I need the following from our ACE account:

Report: ES-003 Entry Summary Details Date range: February 4, 2025, through February 24, 2026 (Entry Date) Fields: All available, specifically including: Entry Summary Number, Entry Date, Entry Type, HTS Number, Tariff Ordinal Number, Country of Origin, Goods Value, Duty Amount, Liquidation Status, Liquidation Date Format: CSV

I also need:

1. Confirmation of our current ACH enrollment status with CBP
2. Identification of any entries approaching their 180-day protest window
3. A list of any entries that have already been subject to post-summary corrections during the IEEPA period

Please provide by [date]. This is time-sensitive as we’re preparing for the CAPE portal launch.

Thank you, [Your Name]

If your broker is unresponsive

Some brokers have been slow to engage on IEEPA refund preparation. If yours hasn’t provided the data you need within a reasonable timeframe:

1. Escalate — contact the broker’s account manager or supervisor
2. Request ACE portal credentials — ask the broker to set up direct ACE access for your IOR number so you can pull reports yourself
3. Consider your options — you have the right to your own CBP data. If your broker won’t provide it, you can file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with CBP for your entry records, though this is slower
4. Get help — an Impact Assessment can identify alternative data sources and help you reconstruct your entry history if broker cooperation is limited

If you have multiple brokers

If you used different customs brokers for different entries during the IEEPA period (which is common for importers who ship through multiple ports or handle different product lines through different brokers), you’ll need ES-003 data from each broker.

CAPE processes claims at the importer level (by IOR number), not at the broker level. All entries filed under your IOR number are eligible for refunds regardless of which broker filed them. But each broker only has access to the entries they filed, so you’ll need to aggregate data from multiple sources.

Create a master spreadsheet that combines all ES-003 data across brokers. Check for:

• Duplicate entries — unlikely but possible if a broker change happened mid-entry
• Gaps — entries that should exist based on your shipping records but don’t appear in any broker’s ES-003
• Inconsistent formats — different brokers may use slightly different field names or formats. Standardize before filing.

What to do with the data once you have it

Pulling the ES-003 is step one. Here’s what comes next:

Filter for IEEPA-eligible lines

In your spreadsheet, filter the HTS Number column for codes beginning with 9903.01 or 9903.02. Everything else is not eligible for IEEPA refunds and should be excluded from your CAPE claim.

Calculate your total exposure

Sum the Duty Amount column for all IEEPA-eligible lines. This is your baseline refund claim amount, before statutory interest. For a rough interest estimate, multiply by the applicable federal rate for the period of overpayment — our refund timeline guide provides current interest rate calculations.

Map liquidation status

Create a column that categorizes each entry as: PSC-eligible (unliquidated), protest-eligible (liquidated within 180 days), or requires-escalation (liquidated beyond 180 days). This mapping determines your recovery strategy for each entry.

Identify data quality issues

Flag any entries with missing fields, duty amounts that don’t reconcile with your records, or HTS codes that seem incorrect. These are the entries that will trigger manual review in CAPE if not fixed beforehand.

Get professional validation

An Impact Assessment takes your raw ES-003 data and does all of this systematically: filtering, calculating, mapping, flagging, and producing a complete filing-ready package. If you have hundreds or thousands of entries, doing this manually is error-prone and time-consuming. The assessment is free, covered by mutual NDA, and delivered within 5-10 business days.

Common mistakes when pulling ACE data

After reviewing hundreds of ES-003 exports, we see the same mistakes repeatedly. Avoid these and you’ll save yourself significant rework:

Mistake 1: Using the filing date instead of entry date. The ES-003 lets you filter by different date types. For IEEPA purposes, you want the entry date (when goods entered U.S. commerce), not the filing date (when the entry summary was submitted to CBP, which may be days later). Using the wrong date type could exclude eligible entries at the boundaries of the IEEPA period.

Mistake 2: Exporting summary data instead of line-level data. The ES-001 and ES-002 reports provide aggregate data per entry. That’s not enough — you need the ES-003 line-level detail to identify which specific tariff lines carry IEEPA codes. Summary data won’t tell you whether $50,000 in duties on an entry is all IEEPA or a mix of IEEPA and Section 301.

Mistake 3: Not checking for completeness. Large exports sometimes truncate silently. If you have 2,000 entries during the IEEPA period but your CSV only contains 1,500 rows, the export was incomplete. Always verify the row count against ACE’s entry count for the same period.

Mistake 4: Assuming all Chapter 99 codes are IEEPA. They’re not. Only 9903.01 and 9903.02 are IEEPA. Including Section 301 (9903.88) or Section 232 (9903.80) lines in your refund claim will cause rejections or delays.

The timeline pressure

The CAPE portal is expected to launch in mid-April 2026. That gives you weeks, not months, to prepare. Importers who have their ES-003 data pulled, validated, and organized will file on day one and enter the automated processing queue. Importers who start pulling data after the portal opens will lose weeks or months of queue position.

Data preparation is not a task you can rush. Reconciling ES-003 data against internal records, resolving discrepancies with brokers, checking liquidation statuses, and calculating refund amounts takes time — especially if you have high entry volumes or multiple brokers.

Start now. Pull the ES-003 today.