The IEEPA Refund Class Action Now Has a Timetable: What the Freestyle World Scheduling Order Means for Importers Who Have Not Sued
On November 9, 2026, Judge Richard K. Eaton entered a scheduling order in Freestyle World, Inc. v. CBP, the lead case for a certified nationwide class of IEEPA tariff payers. The order sets four deadlines between November 11 and December 14, 2026, covering the plaintiff’s refund motion, the government’s answer and response, and a progress-reporting mechanism, but it does not itself order any refunds.
The schedule leaves briefing closed by December 9, with no guaranteed reply or hearing date, while the earliest statute-of-limitations deadlines for individual refund suits arrive in early February 2027. The piece outlines what remains undecided—class notice procedures, limitations tolling, and appeal risk—and recommends importers calendar key dates, compute entry-level limitations deadlines, and prepare to decide whether to file individually if no class-wide order issues in time.
Attorney advertising. This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice.
When the U.S. Court of International Trade certified a nationwide class of IEEPA tariff payers on October 8, the question every class member asked was the same: when? The certification opinion did not order a single refund. It certified the class, appointed counsel, and told the parties to come back with a schedule.
That schedule for the IEEPA refund class action is now in place. On November 9, 2026, Judge Richard K. Eaton entered a scheduling order in Freestyle World, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Court No. 26-01088 (ECF No. 68). The class’s motion for a refund order is due this week, and briefing on it closes on December 9.
For importers who paid IEEPA duties and have not filed their own case, the order gives a first real answer on timing. It also shows how little room there is between the earliest possible class ruling and the first statute of limitations deadlines in early 2027.
How the Case Got Here
Freestyle World is the lead IEEPA refund case and the vehicle for the class. In Slip Op. 26-123, the court certified a class under USCIT Rule 23(b)(2) covering importers of record who paid duties under the challenged IEEPA tariff orders between February 1, 2025, and February 19, 2026, other than those who have filed their own refund actions. We covered that ruling in detail here.
The opinion closed with two housekeeping directions: a closed conference on October 13, and a joint proposed scheduling order due October 22 that had to include the date by which the government would answer or otherwise respond to the class complaint. The court later granted the government more time to file that proposal. On November 5, the plaintiff filed a consent motion for a scheduling order, meaning the government agreed to the dates. The court granted it four days later.
What the Order Sets
The order has four deadlines:
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| November 11, 2026 | The plaintiff files its motion for an order directing CBP to liquidate or reliquidate class members’ entries on which they deposited IEEPA duties. |
| November 13, 2026 | The government files its Answer to the complaint. |
| December 9, 2026 | The government files its response to the plaintiff’s motion. |
| December 14, 2026 | The parties confer and propose to the court a mechanism for reporting on the progress of the class action. |
Four things about this schedule are worth noticing.
The merits motion comes first. In the ordinary sequence, a defendant answers and the plaintiff then moves for relief. Here the plaintiff’s motion is due two days before the Answer. That ordering makes sense only in a case where the underlying legal question is already settled, and the order says as much: it describes the duties at issue as those the Supreme Court found unauthorized and illegal in Learning Resources. What remains to be decided is the remedy.
The government is answering, not moving to dismiss. The certification opinion left open whether the government would answer “or otherwise respond.” The order calls for an Answer by November 13. That removes one potential source of delay, although the Answer may still raise defenses the court will have to address.
There is no reply brief and no argument date. The schedule stops with the government’s response on December 9. Nothing in the order gives the plaintiff a reply or sets a hearing. The court can add either, but as written, the motion will be fully briefed and ready for decision on December 9.
The parties are already planning for what comes after. The December 14 deadline is for a reporting mechanism on “the progress of the class action.” The court has supervised CBP’s refund system through regular government progress reports and conferences since the spring. This provision suggests it intends to do the same for the class. It does not presuppose how the motion will be decided, but it is hard to read as anything other than preparation for an implementation phase.
One caution. A scheduling order binds the parties, not the court. Judge Eaton has moved quickly throughout this litigation, and he wrote in the certification opinion that he was certifying the class “in the hope, and expectation” that it would lead to refunds. A ruling in mid-December is plainly possible under this schedule. It is not promised.
The class schedule also runs alongside the court’s continuing oversight of CAPE. Under an October 29 order, the government owed a progress report by November 10, with a closed settlement conference set for November 12. As of October 23, CBP reported roughly $137.9 billion in refunds accepted for processing and $127.7 billion sent to Treasury, which the court described as more than 80 percent of the $166 billion collected. The class action is aimed at the money still outstanding.
What the Order Does Not Do
It does not order refunds. No class-wide reliquidation order has issued. Class members still have no access to CAPE Phase 3 for finally liquidated entries, which remains limited to importers with their own court orders.
It does not address notice to the class or how class members would claim. The order is silent on both. Those questions may be taken up in the motion, in the court’s ruling, or through the reporting mechanism due December 14.
It does not resolve the limitations question. A refund suit under 28 U.S.C. § 1581(i) must be filed within two years after the claim accrues. 28 U.S.C. § 2636(i). For duties paid when the IEEPA tariffs first took effect, that puts the earliest deadlines in early February 2027. Whether class membership pauses that clock for an importer who later needs to sue individually has not been decided in this case.
It does not foreclose an appeal. The government opposed certification and is already appealing Judge Eaton’s universal refund orders to the Federal Circuit. Consenting to a briefing schedule is not consenting to the relief. If the court grants the motion, a request for a stay pending appeal would not be surprising.
It does not change who is in the class. Importers with their own suits are out. So, on the terms of the class definition, are duties paid after February 19, 2026, and duties under tariff orders outside the challenged set, including those on Brazil and India.
The Timing Problem
Put the two calendars side by side. Briefing closes December 9. The first limitations deadlines arrive less than two months later.
If the court rules promptly, grants the motion, and no stay issues, class members with early-2025 entries may never need to think about the limitations period. If any one of those things does not happen (the ruling slips into January, the government obtains a stay, or the order is narrower than the class hopes), an importer with February and March 2025 entries will be making a filing decision with days or weeks to spare rather than months.
Filing an individual action has consequences of its own. An importer that files its own case takes itself out of the class. For importers with substantial refunds on finally liquidated entries, that trade has generally been worth making, because an individual order is the only route CAPE Phase 3 currently recognizes. For smaller claims, the class may still be the sensible path. The scheduling order does not change that analysis. It puts dates on it.
What You Should Do Now
1. Calendar the four dates. November 11, November 13, December 9, and December 14, along with the Federal Circuit appeal. Put them in front of whoever owns your refund recovery.
2. Read the plaintiff’s motion when it is filed. It will show exactly what relief the class is asking for, and it is the first place to look for how class members’ entries would be identified and processed.
3. Compute your own limitations dates, entry by entry. Start with your earliest IEEPA duty payments. Treat those dates as real regardless of the class.
4. Set a decision date, not just a deadline. Pick a date in early January by which you will decide whether to file individually if no class-wide order is in place and in effect. Preparing a complaint takes time. Do not leave the decision for the last week.
5. Quantify what is at stake. Total your IEEPA duties on finally liquidated entries that CAPE has not accepted. That number drives the file-or-wait decision.
6. Check whether all of your entries are inside the class. Look for duties paid after February 19, 2026, and entries under the Brazil and India orders.
7. Keep using CAPE for everything it will take. Unliquidated entries and entries within CBP’s voluntary reliquidation window do not depend on the class.
8. Get your ACE account in order. Confirm your ACE portal access and ACH refund enrollment now, so that a class order, if it comes, is not held up by setup.
9. Preserve your records. Entry summaries, payment records, and liquidation dates for every IEEPA entry.
How We Can Help
Lieberman PLLC represents importers in IEEPA refund matters before the Court of International Trade. We can review your entry data, compute the limitations date for each entry, tell you which entries fall inside and outside the certified class, and file an individual action where waiting is not worth the risk. If you are relying on the class, we can monitor the docket for you and tell you when a decision point arrives. Contact us to discuss your situation.
This article reflects the Court of International Trade’s November 9, 2026 scheduling order in Freestyle World, Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection*, Court No. 26-01088, and the state of related proceedings as of November 10, 2026. No class-wide reliquidation order has issued, the government’s Federal Circuit appeal remains pending, and the deadlines described here may be extended or modified by the court. Nothing in this article is legal advice or a substitute for consultation with qualified counsel regarding your specific circumstances.*