What is the difference between IEEPA and Section 301?

IEEPA and Section 301 are different legal authorities for imposing tariffs, and they are recovered through different mechanisms: IEEPA overpayments through CBP's CAPE portal, and Section 301 overpayments through the separate USTR-exclusion path (a Post-Summary Correction or a § 1514 protest). Tariffi handles both.

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: Different from IEEPA — Section 301 is NOT refundable through CAPE. Recovery, where a USTR exclusion applies, runs through a Post-Summary Correction or a § 1514 protest, outside the CAPE portal.

Why both matter for your recovery:

The February 2026 Supreme Court ruling reopened IEEPA-imposed duties — not Section 301, which is an independent statute. The CAPE program is entirely IEEPA money: per CBP's June 2026 court filing, $94.9 billion has been accepted into CAPE for processing and roughly $71 billion remains in CBP's refund pipeline — none of it is a Section 301 pool. Many importers with Chinese sourcing have recoverable amounts under both authorities, so it pays to analyze each — but they are recovered through different mechanisms.

In practice: You upload one ES-003 file and Tariffi cross-references every entry against both the IEEPA schedule and the Section 301 exclusion schedule. The IEEPA reciprocal (9903.02) overpayments are recovered through a CAPE declaration; any Section 301 exclusion claims are filed separately via PSC or protest. The China-overpayment recovery most importers ask about today is largely the IEEPA reciprocal piece, handled through CAPE.