Brazil Tariff Refunds: What Importers Need to Know About IEEPA Chapter 99 Duties

Status as of October 2026. CBP refunds IEEPA duties through the CAPE program in ACE, not through individual paper claims. CAPE Phase 1 opened April 20, 2026 for unliquidated entries and entries recently liquidated; since June 29, 2026 it also accepts entries flagged for reconciliation when the reconciliation entry has not been filed. An entry that liquidated too long ago for CAPE to take it needs a protest within 180 days of liquidation under 19 U.S.C. § 1514, and an entry whose protest window has closed is final. The separate Section 301 duties on Brazilian goods effective July 22, 2026 and the Section 301 forced labor action in force since July 24, 2026 were not affected by the ruling and are not refundable through CAPE. See the CAPE error reference and the FAQ for the current mechanics.

Brazil tariff refunds represent one of the largest recovery opportunities for U.S. importers following the Supreme Court's February 2026 ruling that invalidated IEEPA-based tariffs. If your brokerage imported Brazilian beef, iron ore, coffee, steel, or soybeans during the tariff period, working with an experienced IEEPA refund consultant is the fastest path to recovering duties paid under chapter 99 subheadings that CBP has now ceased collecting.

The cape refund process requires importers to file properly documented claims referencing the specific chapter 99 codes that applied to their entries. For Brazilian goods, this means pulling the es 003 report from ACE to identify every entry summary that carried an IEEPA surcharge. The codes that applied to Brazil are distinct from those targeting other countries, and understanding which ones hit your entries is the first step toward recovery.

Which Chapter 99 Codes Apply to Brazilian Imports?

Brazil was subject to multiple overlapping IEEPA tariff layers. The primary duty-bearing codes include:

• 9903.01.25: the global reciprocal baseline rate of +10%, applied to products of all countries including Brazil, effective April 5, 2025
• 9903.01.77: a Brazil-specific rate of +40% ad valorem, effective August 6, 2025, covering virtually all Brazilian-origin articles not otherwise excluded
• 9903.02.09: a replacement rate of +10% that applied to certain Brazilian goods under revised tariff schedules

The stacking of 9903.01.25 and 9903.01.77 meant that many Brazilian imports faced a combined IEEPA surcharge of 50% on top of existing MFN duties, antidumping orders, and countervailing duties already in place.

What Brazilian Products Were Most Affected?

Brazil is one of the largest agricultural and commodity exporters to the United States. The following sectors bore the heaviest tariff burden:

• Beef and poultry: Brazil is the world's largest beef exporter, and U.S. imports of Brazilian fresh, chilled, and frozen beef faced the full 9903.01.77 surcharge of +40% on top of any existing tariff-rate quota duties
• Iron ore and minerals: Brazilian iron ore, manganese, bauxite, and niobium shipments were subject to the stacked IEEPA rates, significantly increasing landed costs for U.S. steel producers and manufacturers sourcing raw materials
• Steel products: while finished steel articles were carved out from 9903.01.77 under the exclusion at 9903.01.83 (to avoid double-counting with Section 232 duties), semi-finished steel and steel inputs not covered by 232 still carried the IEEPA surcharge
• Coffee: Brazil supplies roughly 25% of U.S. green coffee imports, and the chapter 99 surcharges applied to both raw and processed coffee products, raising costs for roasters and distributors
• Soybeans and soybean products: although the U.S. is itself a major soybean producer, Brazilian soybean meal, soybean oil, and derivative products imported during the tariff period were assessed the full IEEPA rate

Are There Exclusions for Brazilian Goods?

Yes. Several chapter 99 subheadings provide exceptions that reduce or eliminate the IEEPA surcharge on specific categories of Brazilian imports:

• 9903.01.78: goods loaded onto a vessel and in transit before the effective date (August 6, 2025) and entered before October 5, 2025 are exempt from the Brazil-specific duty
• 9903.01.79: humanitarian donations such as food, clothing, and medicine intended to relieve human suffering
• 9903.01.80: informational materials including publications, films, photographs, tapes, compact discs, and artworks
• 9903.01.81: articles classified under subheadings enumerated in U.S. note 2(x)(iii)(a), covering certain critical minerals and inputs
• 9903.01.82: civil aircraft, engines, parts, components, and ground flight simulators of Brazilian origin
• 9903.01.83: iron or steel products, aluminum products, wood products, passenger vehicles, light trucks, semiconductors, copper articles, and their derivatives; these categories were excluded to avoid stacking with existing Section 232 tariffs and other trade actions
• 9903.01.90: additional articles enumerated under U.S. note 2(x)(iii)(b)

Importers should review each entry to determine whether any of these exclusions apply. Entries that were incorrectly assessed the IEEPA duty when an exclusion should have applied represent an additional refund opportunity beyond the baseline IEEPA invalidation.

How Does the Refund Process Work for Brazilian Imports?

The recovery process follows the same general framework as all IEEPA tariff refunds, but with Brazil-specific considerations:

• Pull your ES 003 report: this ACE report lists every entry summary with chapter 99 duty lines, allowing you to identify the total IEEPA exposure across your Brazil-origin entries
• Identify the applicable codes: determine which entries carry 9903.01.25, 9903.01.77, or 9903.02.09 duty assessments, and whether any exclusion codes (9903.01.78–83, 9903.01.90) should have applied but were missed
• Calculate the refund amount: for each entry, the refundable amount equals the IEEPA-attributable duty paid, including any merchandise processing fees calculated on the inflated value
• File the claim: submit the entries in a CAPE Declaration in the ACE portal, or have your broker do it; for entries CAPE will not take because they liquidated too long ago, file a protest within 180 days of liquidation. Keep the entry summaries, commercial invoices, and country-of-origin certificates ready in case CBP asks for them
• Monitor liquidation status: CAPE takes unliquidated entries and entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days; an entry liquidated longer ago requires a formal protest under 19 USC 1514

What Deadlines Should Importers Watch?

• Unliquidated entries: include them in a CAPE Declaration; CBP then liquidates them without the IEEPA duty
• Liquidated entries: CAPE takes entries liquidated within the preceding 80 days; for an older liquidation you have 180 days from the date of liquidation to file a protest under 19 USC 1514, and after that the entry is final
• Reconciliation-flagged entries: since June 29, 2026 CAPE accepts them when the reconciliation entry has not been filed

The combination of high-value commodity imports and significant surcharge rates means that Brazilian import refunds can be among the largest individual recovery claims. Importers of iron ore, beef, and coffee should prioritize their filings.