The same non-profit public interest legal group that represented small business plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case against President Donald Trump’s International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs has launched a new tool to help importers access duty refunds.
On Thursday, the Liberty Justice Center announced the launch of Operation Refund Rescue, a platform designed to help small businesses that haven’t been able to access IEEPA tariff refunds.
While Customs and Border Protection has refunded a significant portion of the $166 billion collected under the now-defunct IEEPA tariff scheme, a significant number of businesses have been unable to collect the money they’re rightfully owed.
According to the group, a critical obstacle involves entries that have reached the final liquidation stage, and many importers have been unable to prompt paybacks from the federal government without filing their own lawsuits in the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT), which first ruled against the administration’s tariff agenda in spring of 2025.
Filing those suits, which can run up $10,000-$50,000 in legal fees, is cost-prohibitive for many businesses. Sometimes, the tariff relief is worth less than what it would cost them to hire private counsel.
As such, the public interest law firm has deployed a new framework for helping qualifying businesses, which include those that paid into the IEEPA tariffs and that have entries that have reached final liquidation and are not eligible for refunds through CBP’s CAPE process.
The Liberty Justice Center will file an individual lawsuit on behalf of the business, seek the necessary court order to solidify the business’ eligibility for reliquidation and refunds, help the business navigate the next steps within the CAPE system, and cover all court fees and legal expenses.
“We launched Operation Refund Rescue because eight months after the Supreme Court ruled these tariffs unlawful, small businesses are still being forced to file individual federal lawsuits just to recover their own money,” Sara Albrecht, chairman and CEO of the Liberty Justice Center, told Sourcing Journal.
While CBP’s established refund protocol for entries formerly subject to IEEPA tariffs has worked for many—as of Oct. 2, CBP has accepted around $136.6 billion in potential and certified IEEPA tariff refunds through CAPE And sent $126 billion to the Treasury Department for disbursement—other importers are navigating time-consuming and resource-heavy paths toward reimbursement.
“Under the current refund process, importers with certain finally liquidated entries cannot access Phase 3 refunds through CAPE without first obtaining a court order. That’s not a technical problem with the portal. It’s a legal barrier that can cost a small business thousands of dollars to overcome,” Albrecht explained.
“The government lost this case, yet it continues to fight broader refund relief. Meanwhile, businesses that can afford attorneys are moving forward, while those with smaller refund claims risk being left behind,” she added.
Operation Refund Rescue is the group’s response to the issue, and it aims to cover the costs of narrowly targeted lawsuits to obtain court relief on behalf of businesses seeking refunds.
“We shouldn’t have to do this, and small businesses shouldn’t have to sue the government again to recover money it unlawfully collected,” Albrecht said.
