FedEx has sued the US government for a “full refund” of tariffs it paid after last week’s historic Supreme Court ruling deemed President Trump’s main import taxes illegal.
The suit appeared to be the first of its kind from a major American company following Friday’s ruling, which found that Trump had exceeded his presidential authority and overturned tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
“Plaintiffs seek for themselves a full refund from Defendants of all IEEPA duties Plaintiffs have paid to the United States,” Federal Express Corp and FedEx Logistics said in an 11-page complaint filed at the US Court of International Trade in New York on Monday.
US Customs and Border Protection; its commissioner, Rodney Scott; and the US government were named as defendants in the lawsuit, which does not explicitly state how much FedEx has paid in tariffs so far.
Shares in FedEx jumped 0.7% Tuesday morning.
The White House and CBP did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Several other companies, including Costco and Revlon, filed lawsuits seeking tariff refunds before the Supreme Court’s ruling last week. The cases are still pending at the US Court of International Trade.
While FedEx has not disclosed how much it has paid in tariffs, the company warned in September that it expected to suffer a $1 billion hit to earnings due to US trade policies, including the IEEPA tariffs – equivalent to roughly 16% of its total earnings in fiscal year 2025.
In last week’s ruling, the Supreme Court stated that the US Court of International Trade has “exclusive jurisdiction” over IEEPA levies.
“While the Supreme Court did not address the issue of refunds, FedEx has taken necessary action to protect the company’s rights as an importer of record to seek duty refunds from US Customs and Border Protection,” FedEx said in a statement to The Post.
The company added that it will share “any relevant information and updates in a timely manner.”
Along with a full refund of tariffs paid, FedEx is also seeking payment for attorney’s fees.
