Food and Beverage Importers: IEEPA Considerations
The food and beverage industry’s IEEPA exposure varies significantly by country of origin and product category. Because Canada and Mexico are the two largest sources of food imports into the United States — and both have USMCA provisions that may have exempted qualifying agricultural goods — the refund landscape in this sector is more nuanced than in purely manufactured goods industries.
Agricultural Products and USMCA
A significant portion of food imports from Canada and Mexico entered under USMCA preferential tariff treatment. USMCA-qualifying agricultural goods that paid $0 in IEEPA duties are not eligible for refunds. However, food importers should check each entry — some goods from Canada and Mexico may not have met USMCA rules of origin and paid the full 25% IEEPA rate.
Specialty foods, processed foods with third-country ingredient sourcing, and goods that entered under quota-based tariff rate quotas (TRQs) may have had more complex duty situations. Review each 7501 individually.
Wine and Spirits: France, Italy, and Switzerland
The wine industry was a focal point of early IEEPA challenges — the lead plaintiff in V.O.S. Selections Inc. was a wine importer. Wine from France and Italy (EU at 20%) and from Switzerland (31%) paid significant IEEPA duties. Importers of European wines and spirits who absorbed these costs during the IEEPA period have meaningful refund exposure.
Specialty Foods and Grocery
Specialty food importers who source from non-USMCA countries — India (18%), Thailand (36%), China (34%), or other covered countries — have simpler eligibility situations. If IEEPA duties appear on your 7501 forms for entries from these countries, those duties are eligible for CAPE refunds.
Common specialty food imports with IEEPA exposure:
- Spices and seasonings from India (18%)
- Canned goods and preserved foods from China (34%)
- Specialty beverages from Thailand (36%)
- Coffee and processed foods from Vietnam (46%)
Perishable Goods and Entry Complexity
Food importers often deal with frequent, smaller entries (perishable goods move quickly through customs). This means more individual entries but lower average value per entry. The CAPE CSV still requires per-entry data, so high-frequency perishable importers may have many rows in their CSV even if each individual entry’s duty was modest.
The 9,999-row CSV limit may be an issue for fresh food importers with very high entry frequency — plan to split submissions if needed.