FedEx sues Trump administration for tariff refunds after Supreme Court ruling

FedEx sued the Trump administration Monday, seeking a "full refund" of all tariffs it paid the government under the overturned International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

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The Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump exceeded his presidential authority when he deployed the act to impose sweeping tariffs on almost all U.S. trading partners.

"Accordingly ... Plaintiffs seek for themselves a full refund from Defendants of all IEEPA duties Plaintiffs have paid to the United States," lawyers for FedEx wrote in the lawsuit, lodged at the Customs and Border Protection Agency in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

FedEx says that when tariffs were in effect under the IEEPA law, it imported goods from countries subject to the duties. It says it "paid IEEPA duties to the United States and thus [has] suffered injury caused by those orders."

The global logistics company moves 17 million packages per day through hundreds of countries, according to its website.

"Typically, when goods enter (i.e., are imported into) the United States, the importer of record pays an estimated duty," FedEx lawyers wrote in the filing. Customs and Border Protection "then fixes the final appraisement of merchandise by confirming the final value, classification, duty rate, and final amount of duty for the imported goods."

In recent quarterly earnings reports, FedEx executives warned that tariffs would dent the company's overall earnings. In September, before the IEEPA tariffs had been rescinded, FedEx said the hit could be $1 billion during fiscal year 2026.

"From a customer perspective, it has been a very stressful period," FedEx chief customer officer Brie Carere said in September. She said it had been "particularly challenging for small exporters."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FedEx's suit appears to be the first refund case brought by a major corporation since the Supreme Court's ruling Friday. But several cases had already been filed in the specialized international trade court.

In December, Costco sued the administration for a full refund of tariffs it paid under IEEPA. Costco has said that about a third of its sales in the U.S. come from imported products.

Biden administration Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo was named to Costco's board of directors days after that lawsuit was filed.

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In addition to FedEx and Costco, cosmetics giant Revlon, eyeglasses maker EssilorLuxottica, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki, canned foods seller Bumble Bee, Japanese auto supplier Yokohama Tire and many other smaller firms have filed similar suits over the last few months.