What is the difference between IEEPA and Section 301?

IEEPA and Section 301 are different legal authorities for imposing tariffs, but both generate refund opportunities when rates are reduced or eliminated retroactively. Tariffi handles both through the same CAPE process.

IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act):

• Legal basis: Authorizes the President to impose economic measures during declared national emergencies affecting foreign policy or national security.
• Scope: Can target any country or set of goods designated under the emergency declaration. IEEPA tariffs tend to be broader in scope and can be imposed or modified rapidly via executive order.
• Refund mechanism: When IEEPA tariff rates are reduced, importers who paid the higher rate on eligible entries can claim refunds through CAPE declarations.

Section 301 (Trade Act of 1974, § 301):

• Legal basis: Authorizes the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to impose tariffs to counter unfair trade practices by foreign governments, including intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and discriminatory trade barriers.
• Scope: Primarily targets Chinese imports across four tranches (Lists 1-4) with rates of 7.5% to 25% ad valorem.
• Refund mechanism: Same as IEEPA — when rates are adjusted, CAPE declarations recover the difference.

Why both matter for your refund:

The CAPE Phase 1 recovery pool exceeds $20 billion and covers both IEEPA and Section 301 overpayments. Many importers have entries under both authorities. Tariffi's ES-003 analysis identifies qualifying entries regardless of the tariff authority — you do not need to know which legal basis applies to each entry.

In practice: You upload one ES-003 file and Tariffi cross-references every entry against both IEEPA and Section 301 eligible schedules. The filing process is identical for both — the same CAPE declaration format, the same broker review, the same CBP processing queue.