Section 232 vs IEEPA tariffs: legal basis, stacking and refunds

The two, side by side

	Section 232	IEEPA
Statute	Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, 19 U.S.C. 1862	International Emergency Economic Powers Act, 50 U.S.C. 1701 and following
Who sets the duty	The President, by proclamation, on the recommendation of the Secretary of Commerce	The President, by executive order (for China: EO 14195 and EO 14257 among others)
Basis stated	Imports that threaten to impair national security, by product group	An emergency declared under the Act
Court outcome	Not part of the ruling; still collected	Held unauthorized; collection ended for entries from 2026-02-24
Refund	No CBP refund process found	Refunds through CBP’s CAPE tool

What the Supreme Court decided

On 2026-02-20 the Supreme Court decided Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (No. 24-1287, with No. 25-250). The syllabus says: “IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” The case concerned the drug-trafficking tariffs and the reciprocal tariffs.

CBP’s message of 2026-02-22 says the duties under Executive Orders 14193, 14194, 14195, 14245, 14257, 14323 and 14329 “will no longer be in effect and will no longer be collected” for goods entered on or after 12:00 a.m. eastern time on February 24, 2026. It adds that the order “affects IEEPA duties only and does not affect any other duties, including duties imposed under section 232”. Section 301 is named there too. See the Section 232 status table for what is collected now.

Refunds apply to IEEPA only

After the ruling, the Court of International Trade ordered CBP to liquidate or reliquidate entries without the IEEPA duties (as CBP reports in CSMS 68340863), and CBP opened CAPE, the Consolidated Administration and Processing of Entries tool in ACE, on April 20, 2026 (message dated 2026-04-13). It is for entries on which IEEPA duties were paid. The message lists entries it does not accept, among them an entry summary “over 80 days past the liquidation date”. CAPE is for IEEPA duties, and the messages we read describe no Section 232 refund. Read the IEEPA refund guide for the headings, the entry dates and who files.

Do they stack?

CBP’s reporting order for an entry summary puts Section 301 first, then Section 122, then Section 232, then Section 201 (CSMS 67844987); see stacking order . That is a reporting order, not a statement about which duties add up. The statements we read:

Executive Order 14289 (2025-04-29). To the extent tariffs overlap, they “should not all have a cumulative effect”. An article under the autos proclamation is not subject to the steel and aluminum 232 duties or the northern and southern border IEEPA duties; steel and aluminum articles can carry both metals duties if each condition is met (section 3). We did not check whether later proclamations changed how this order applies.
Lumber, furniture, cabinets (Proclamation 10976). Not subject to tariffs under the reciprocal-tariff order (EO 14257), and a wood product also subject to the autos proclamation pays the autos terms only.
Semiconductors (Proclamation 11002). A covered product under both this and another 232 proclamation is subject to this one only, and not to the reciprocal-tariff order.
Section 122. For entries through July 24, 2026, CBP’s heading 9903.03.06 exempted articles of steel, aluminum, copper, autos, semiconductors, wood and trucks from the Section 122 surcharge (CSMS 67844987). Three metals headings, 9903.82.03, .13 and .21, are not eligible for that exemption (CSMS 68855869).

For entries from 2026-02-24 the IEEPA side of these rules no longer produces a duty. Whether a particular line pays two 232 duties is answered by the proclamation for each group, and we do not publish a general table.

USMCA

The proclamations treat USMCA goods differently by group:

Autos (10908): a USMCA-qualifying vehicle can be assessed only on its non-US content if the Secretary approves; USMCA-qualifying parts are not subject until a process is published.
Medium and heavy-duty trucks (10984): USMCA-qualifying trucks can apply the 25 percent to the non-US content once approved; USMCA parts are not subject until a process is set; knock-down kits remain subject.
Metals (11032): for Annex I-C products of Canada and Mexico that qualify under USMCA, the 25 percent applies only to the non-US content, with a total effective duty not below 15 percent.

These rules are written for goods of Canada and Mexico.

Frequently asked questions

Did the Supreme Court strike down Section 232 tariffs?

No. The Court's holding was that "IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs" (Learning Resources v. Trump, decided 2026-02-20). CBP says the order ending IEEPA collection affects IEEPA duties only and not duties under section 232 (CSMS 67834313).

Do Section 232 and IEEPA duties stack?

It depends on the proclamation. Some 232 proclamations say their products are not subject to the IEEPA reciprocal tariff order. For entries from 2026-02-24 there are no IEEPA duties to stack.

Can I claim a refund of Section 232 duties?

CBP's refund tool, CAPE, covers IEEPA duties. We found no CBP refund process for Section 232 duties.

Does USMCA treatment change a Section 232 duty?

For some groups. Autos, medium and heavy-duty trucks and some metal products have USMCA rules in their proclamations; others do not. Read the proclamation for your product group.

Sources

Updated: 2026-10-21