Federal Express filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Monday, requesting a “full refund” of the money the shipping giant paid for tariffs unilaterally imposed last year by President Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court ruled last week were illegal.
The suit filed by FedEx seems to be the first of its kind to be filed by a large American firm to receive a refund of the tariffs following the ruling of the Supreme Court on Friday.
Other companies had already sued, claiming their refunds through the high court, even before the high court declared that the tariffs Trump had imposed on them under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were unlawful.
The suits, which have plaintiffs among them retail warehouse club giant Costco, are pending at the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York, the same court where FedEx filed its lawsuit.
The Supreme Court, in the ruling on Friday, stated that the Court of International Trade has the “exclusive jurisdiction” of the IEEPA tariffs.
Federal Express Corp and its associated company, FedEx Logistics, said in the new lawsuit, “Plaintiffs seek for themselves a full refund from Defendants of all IEEPA duties Plaintiffs have paid to the United States.”
The 11-page complaint charges U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the tariff collector, its commissioner, Rodney Scott, and the U.S. government as defendants.
However, CNBC has requested comment on the suit from CBP and the White House. The suit fails to specify the amount of FedEx paid out in IEEPA tariffs, since Trump had imposed them on most of its trading partners in the U.S. last year.
FedEx had claimed that it would incur a $1 billion blow to its earnings in the current fiscal year in September, due to the trade policies in the U.S., not all of which were related to the IEEPA duties. That dollar is equivalent to 16 percent of the total earnings of the preceding fiscal year.
In a note on its website, FedEx said, “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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
The company reported, “At this time, however, no refund process has been established by regulators or the courts. We will communicate any relevant information and updates in a timely manner, and we appreciate your patience as we wait for additional guidance and clarity from the U.S. government and the courts.”
