CAPE Phase 2 should be read as a sequencing rule for one reconciliation-flagged population, not as a new merits rule for IEEPA refunds. The CAPE Declaration must move before Type 09 unless the reconciliation deadline is too close to protect.
CSMS #69035485 changed the gate for one slice of that excluded inventory. Reconciliation-flagged entries in types 01, 02, and 06 became eligible for a CAPE Declaration only if no Type 09 reconciliation entry has been filed and the entry remains within the liquidation posture the notice sets, which it limits to unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation. CBP also stated the sequence directly. The CAPE Declaration should move before the reconciliation entry, and where the reconciliation deadline is less than 30 days out, the reconciliation filing takes priority.
The legal read is that Phase 2 creates three filing states for a reconciliation-flagged entry that carries an IEEPA Chapter 99 code. The states are defined by whether Type 09 is absent, already filed, or close enough to its deadline that reconciliation must control. Each state points to a different action, and the difference is set by where the Type 09 stands.
The first state is the entry with no Type 09 on file. This is the entry Phase 2 reaches. The CAPE Declaration moves first, the IEEPA Chapter 99 duties come off at the line level through the same mass processing path Phase 1 used, and the reconciliation entry follows afterward. The operating risk here is not eligibility. It is letting a routine reconciliation filing run ahead of the CAPE Declaration and closing the Phase 2 path by accident.
The operational consequence is a timing advantage rather than a guaranteed payment date. A CAPE-first entry is positioned for the CAPE mass processing path before reconciliation, while a Type 09-first entry is outside this deployment and must be parked for the later processing path CBP identifies. The failure mode is procedural. A reconciliation entry filed first moves the entry outside this Phase 2 CAPE path, and this article does not read that sequencing consequence as a merits decision on the refund claim.
The second state is the entry with a Type 09 reconciliation entry already filed. Once Type 09 is filed, CBP treats the underlying entries as outside this Phase 2 deployment. CBP's direction to a later CAPE phase indicates a timing issue for Phase 2 rather than a merits denial, because the agency does not adjudicate the refund claim in this deployment. For the work queue this means the entry does not belong in the Phase 2 CAPE batch and should be parked for the later processing path CBP identifies.
This state is easy to miss at volume because a filed Type 09 is otherwise a normal customs action, so the control has to come from the import team's own sequencing file.
The third state is the entry whose reconciliation deadline is close. The reconciliation clock runs separately from CAPE. CSMS #69035485 says that when the reconciliation filing deadline is close to expiring, including when it is less than 30 days away, the trade must prioritize the reconciliation filing. In that narrow band the import team protects the reconciliation filing first and should treat those entries as outside the current Phase 2 CAPE batch.
The operational consequence is that a near-expiring reconciliation deadline overrides the CAPE-first default. These entries should be pulled out of the Phase 2 batch and worked on the reconciliation clock, because CSMS #69035485 tells the trade to prioritize the reconciliation filing when that deadline is close.
The clean split is by Type 09 status, applied only after the entry is confirmed to carry both an IEEPA Chapter 99 code and a reconciliation flag. Entries with no Type 09 on file are the active Phase 2 population and should be sequenced CAPE-first. Entries with Type 09 already filed are a hold population, parked for the later phase CBP says it will build. Entries with a reconciliation deadline inside the less-than-30-days band are a deadline population, worked on the reconciliation clock rather than the CAPE clock. Keeping these three populations on separate lines of the work file is what prevents a filing order mistake at volume.
The handoff between importer and broker is where the order can break. Where Type 09 filing is delegated to the broker, a standing instruction can file reconciliation on schedule while the CAPE Declaration is still in the importer's queue. The split in the work file only holds if both sides read from the same population list. An importer that flags entries for the CAPE-first sequence without telling the broker to hold reconciliation has not actually protected the entry.
A likely failure mode is a standing broker instruction that files Type 09 on a fixed cadence while the importer is still preparing the CAPE Declaration. The importer flags a batch of reconciliation entries for the CAPE-first sequence but does not tell the broker to suspend that instruction. The scheduled run files Type 09 on those entries before the CAPE Declaration clears, and every entry in the batch drops to the hold population. No merits decision is required for the fast path to close.
The operating fix is a suspend-and-release step tied to the Type 09 status split. Before the split is complete, the importer tells the broker to hold Type 09 on any entry carrying an IEEPA Chapter 99 code and a reconciliation flag. Once CAPE acceptance is confirmed on a given entry, the importer releases that entry back to the normal reconciliation cadence. Entries inside the less-than-30-days band are the exception, and the broker files those on the reconciliation clock regardless of CAPE status.
Phase 2 also leaves outside this deployment any entry that fails the liquidation posture CBP set for this deployment. That deployment guardrail is separate from the reconciliation deadline and from the 180-day protest clock under 19 U.S.C. 1514. Phase 2 is a scope expansion for one category of unfiled reconciliation inventory. It is not a general reopening, and it does not reach entries that have already passed the liquidation window CBP set for this round.
The new point is not the broader IEEPA recovery framework already covered elsewhere. The new point is that Phase 2 makes filing order a separate control. The same reconciliation-flagged entry can remain inside this CAPE deployment or fall outside it depending on whether the CAPE Declaration or Type 09 moves first.
Import teams should first isolate entry types 01, 02, and 06 that carry an IEEPA Chapter 99 code and a reconciliation flag. The first split should be Type 09 status. Entries with no Type 09 on file remain candidates for the CAPE-first sequence. Entries with Type 09 already on file should be parked for the later CAPE phase CBP says it will develop. Importers should therefore pause any standing broker instruction that automatically files reconciliation entries before the Type 09 status split is complete. A default that files reconciliation early is now a way to lose Phase 2 eligibility without anyone deciding to.
Three developments would change this analysis. A later CAPE phase that accepts entries with Type 09 already filed would move the hold population back into scope and remove the lockout risk. A change to the liquidation guardrail CBP set for this deployment would bring additional entries into the current CAPE processing scope. Direct CBP guidance on how the reconciliation deadline interacts with CAPE sequencing would replace the sequencing judgment in this piece with a stated rule. The records that will show each shift are a later CBP CSMS accepting Type 09 on file entries, a CBP refund page update changing the liquidation guardrail, and direct CBP reconciliation guidance changing the priority rule for near-deadline entries.
The most consequential of these is the future phase for entries with Type 09 already filed. CBP points entries with Type 09 already filed to a later CAPE phase. For this deployment, the hold population is a timing problem rather than a merits ruling. When CBP announces that phase, the sequencing pressure should narrow if the new filing requirements accept Type 09 on file entries without a similar ordering condition. Until then, filing order stays a manual control the import team owns.
CBP's published instructions set the controlling mechanics. CSMS #69035485 states the June 29, 2026 Phase 2 scope for entry types 01, 02, and 06, the no Type 09 on file condition, the limit to unliquidated entries and entries within 80 days of liquidation, the CAPE before reconciliation sequence, the lockout once Type 09 is filed, and the less than 30 days reconciliation filing priority. CSMS #68340863 states the Phase 1 rejection of reconciliation flagged and Type 09 entries, the 9,999 entry CSV limit, and line level removal of IEEPA Chapter 99 duties.
The three state filing sequence is this article's reading of CBP's order of operations. CBP has not issued it as a separate instruction.
Splitting the work file into three states and pausing standing broker instructions are operational recommendations based on CBP's Type 09 lockout rule.
The two controlling CSMS messages were checked against the CBP GovDelivery originals. Any program mechanics beyond those messages should be rechecked against the CBP IEEPA Duty Refunds and Reconciliation pages before reliance.
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