The entire IEEPA screening process for a single client takes 15 minutes. Pull the ES-003 from ACE, screen for 9903 HTS codes in Excel, and submit for assessment. This guide walks through each step so you can screen your first client in the time it takes to drink a coffee.
We built this workflow with input from customs brokers who are already running it across portfolios of 40-80 clients. The bottleneck is never the process — it is starting it.
Step 1: Pull the ES-003 from ACE (5 Minutes)
Log into the ACE portal at ace.cbp.dhs.gov. Navigate to Reports > Entry Summary > ES-003. The ES-003 is the Entry Summary Line Detail report. It contains every line item on every entry summary your brokerage filed for a given importer.
Set the date range to cover the full IEEPA surcharge period — February 2025 through the present. Select the importer’s filer code or IRS number. Export to CSV.
The output file contains columns for entry number, entry date, HTS number, duty rate, entered value, calculated duty, and liquidation status. This is the raw data you need.
Common issue: If your ACE role does not include the ES-003 report, contact your brokerage’s ACE administrator. The report requires the “Entry Summary Reports” permission set. Most brokers already have it. Those who do not can get it enabled in under 24 hours.
Batch tip: You can run the ES-003 for all importers under your filer code in a single pull. Export one large file, then split by importer. This is how brokers screen 40 clients in two hours instead of pulling reports one at a time.
Step 2: Screen for 9903 Codes in Excel (5 Minutes)
Open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets. Filter the HTS column for codes beginning with 9903.01 or 9903.02. These are the IEEPA surcharge line items. Every row that matches is a surcharge payment that may be refundable.
Sum the “Calculated Duty” column for the filtered rows. This is the client’s approximate IEEPA exposure — the total surcharges paid that are potentially recoverable after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
What to look for:
- HTS 9903.01.xx — Standard IEEPA surcharges on China-origin goods.
- HTS 9903.02.xx — Additional surcharge tranches applied in later executive orders.
- Liquidation status — Entries marked “liquidated” have a 180-day protest window running under 19 U.S.C. §1514. Entries still “open” or “suspended” have more time but still need attention.
Record three numbers for each client: total IEEPA surcharges, count of affected entries, and count of entries already liquidated. Those three numbers determine the engagement type and urgency.
What if there are no 9903 codes? That client did not import goods subject to IEEPA surcharges during the period. Move to the next one. Not every importer is affected — roughly 35-45% of importers sourcing from China have material exposure.
Step 3: Submit for Assessment (5 Minutes)
Go to the assessment page and submit the client’s data. You need the importer name, estimated exposure, entry count, and your contact information. Attach the filtered ES-003 export if possible — it accelerates the review.
Within 48 hours, we return a detailed assessment showing entry-by-entry exposure, protest deadline status, recommended filing strategy, and estimated recovery. This assessment is free. It is also the document that converts your client — when they see their own entries with dollar amounts and deadlines, the conversation sells itself.
You can also submit clients through tariffresolution.com or chinatariffrefund.com if they prefer a direct importer-facing experience.
Batching for Efficiency: 40 Clients in 2 Hours
The per-client workflow takes 15 minutes. But batching cuts that dramatically. Here is the efficient approach for screening your entire book.
Hour 1: Pull and prep. Run a single ES-003 export for all importers under your filer code. Export to one CSV. Open in Excel. Add a column for importer name (map from entry numbers if not already present). Filter for 9903 codes across the entire dataset. Create a pivot table: importer name, total surcharges, entry count, liquidated entry count.
Hour 2: Review and submit. Sort the pivot table by total surcharges descending. Your highest-value clients are at the top. Submit the top 10-15 for assessment immediately. Flag the rest for submission over the following week.
This two-hour investment produces a complete screening of every importer in your book. Most brokers find that 35-45% of their clients have material exposure. For a brokerage with 100 clients, that is 35-45 actionable engagements identified in a single morning.
Automating With a Python Script
For brokerages processing large volumes, a simple Python script eliminates the manual Excel work entirely.
The script reads the ES-003 CSV, filters for HTS codes matching the pattern 9903.0[1-2].*, groups by importer, and outputs a summary table with total exposure, entry count, and earliest liquidation date per client. It takes about 30 lines of code using pandas.
The logic is straightforward: load the CSV, filter the HTS column with a regex, group by importer identifier, sum the duty column, count entries, and find the minimum liquidation date. Output to a new CSV sorted by exposure descending.
If you want the script, ask your partner contact and we will send it. It turns a two-hour manual process into a 30-second automated one. Brokerages screening 200+ clients find this essential.
What the ES-003 Does NOT Tell You
The ES-003 gives you surcharge totals and entry counts. It does not give you everything needed to file. Specifically, it does not tell you:
Protest deadline accuracy. The 180-day window under 19 U.S.C. §1514 runs from the liquidation date, which may differ from what the ES-003 shows if CBP made adjustments. Our assessment cross-references CBP liquidation records to confirm exact deadlines.
Entry-level filing complexity. Some entries have partial IEEPA exposure (mixed HTS codes on the same entry summary). Filing a PSC on a mixed entry requires line-level analysis that the ES-003 summary does not support alone.
Claim assignment eligibility. Not every entry qualifies for claim assignment under the same terms. Factors like importer creditworthiness, entry age, and protest queue position affect assignment pricing. The assessment evaluates these factors.
CIT litigation viability. Entries outside the 180-day window need Court of International Trade action. Whether CIT litigation makes economic sense depends on the dollar amount, the legal theory, and the cost-benefit ratio. The assessment flags which entries should go to a trade attorney and which are better handled through other channels.
This is why the screening is step one, not the whole process. The ES-003 gets you to “this client has exposure.” The assessment gets you to “here is exactly what to do about it.” For clients who want immediate liquidity rather than waiting for CBP processing, claim assignment through tariffbuyouts.com converts the refund right to upfront capital.
The Monday Morning Version
If you read nothing else, here is the 60-second version.
Pull the ES-003 from ACE for your top 10 importer clients. Filter for HTS 9903.01 and 9903.02. Sum the duty column. Submit the ones with exposure over $50K to our assessment page.
That is 90 minutes of work on Monday morning. By Wednesday, you have detailed recovery assessments for your highest-value clients. By Friday, you are having the conversations that generate $7,400-$13,875 in filing fees per engagement.
Do not overthink the process. The ES-003 data is already in your ACE account. The assessment is free. The only cost is the time to pull and filter — and the cost of not doing it is watching your competitors pull the same data for your clients. For clients who want a quick preliminary eligibility check before you pull ES-003 data, the IEEPA Refund Checker screens importer eligibility in two minutes.
For more context on the competitive dynamic, see our analysis on first-mover advantage. For the economics behind each engagement type, see the referral economics breakdown.
Start with five clients. The process proves itself.
FAQ
Q: Can freight forwarders pull the ES-003, or is it broker-only? A: The ES-003 report in ACE is available to filers of record — typically the customs broker. Freight forwarders who do not file entries directly will need to request the data from the broker of record, or ask their importer clients for a copy. Alternatively, forwarders can estimate exposure from shipment volume and origin country and submit for assessment with those estimates.
Q: How far back should the date range go on the ES-003 pull? A: Pull from February 2025 (when IEEPA surcharges first applied) through the most recent available data. Some brokers pull back to January 2025 to capture any early entries that may have been mis-classified. The assessment team will filter out non-qualifying entries, so it is better to over-include than under-include.
Q: What if a client has entries with multiple brokers? A: Your ES-003 pull only covers entries your brokerage filed. If the client used multiple brokers, they have IEEPA exposure you cannot see. Flag this in the assessment submission and we will work with the client to consolidate data from all filers. This is actually a value-add for you — you are the broker who identified the full picture, not just your slice of it.