FedEx sues Trump administration for 'full refund' after tariffs overturned
FedEx is suing the Trump administration to get a "full refund" for all the tariffs the company paid that have since been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, a complaint shows.
"Plaintiffs seek for themselves a full refund from Defendants of all IEEPA duties Plaintiffs have paid to the United States," lawyers for FedEx said in the complaint, filed Monday in the Court of International Trade in New York.
The filing did not specify how much the company is seeking to be refunded. It names the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency's commissioner, Rodney Scott, and the United States of America as the defendants.
FedEx joins a growing list of companies that have sued to get their money back, though its case appears to be the first filed since Friday's landmark Supreme Court decision, which struck down most of Trump's global tariffs as illegal.
"Supporting our customers as they navigate regulatory changes remains our priority," FedEx said in a statement on Monday. "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 following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful."
ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the lawsuit.
Hundreds of companies have filed lawsuits over the last year to seek refunds, effectively staking their place in line while the Supreme Court took up the tariffs case. While the Supreme Court did not outline a clear process for refunds, it did make clear that the cases belong in the Court of International Trade in New York, where the bulk of the cases have been filed.
President Donald Trump on Friday signaled that his administration would not voluntarily refund companies, telling reporters that "it will be litigated for the next two years."
Trump on Monday continued to lash out at the Supreme Court following its ruling, writing in a series of social media posts that he had a "complete lack of respect" for the nation's high court and that "they should be ashamed of themselves."
"The supreme court (will be using lower case letters for a while based on a complete lack of respect!) of the United States accidentally and unwittingly gave me, as President of the United States, far more powers and strength than I had prior to their ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive ruling," Trump wrote.
The court's 6-3 ruling on Friday, which marked a rare rebuke of his administration, deemed that IEEPA does not give Trump the power to unilaterally impose the sweeping tariffs he issued on most U.S. trade partners.
Over the weekend, Trump announced he was imposing a 15% global tariff under a different legal authority: Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. But that authority is more limited, allowing the tariffs to last only for 150 days without congressional approval.
Trump has repeatedly signaled he won't seek additional action from Congress on tariffs.
