FedEx is demanding a refund from the Trump administration in a new lawsuit following the Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling that tariffs are unlawful, The New York Times reports.
Without listing an amount, the delivery service filed the suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking a refund from Customs and Border Protection, the collecting agency. Analysts like Cato Institute Economist Scott Lincicome say the refund
demand is entirely expected, as the emergency tariffs imposed by President Trump at the start of his second term have raised roughly $175 billion for the U.S. government. “It was totally expected that they would do this, because there’s probably millions and millions of dollars on the line here for them,” Lincicome said.While FedEx is the first to launch litigation since the ruling, it is expected that other large corporations will follow suit, demanding refunds. After lawyers working with the Trump administration said the government would comply with an order to give refunds if the tariffs were found to be illegal in a filed 2025 motion, the president’s tone changed after the Feb. 20 ruling.
Trump suggested that refunds would face legal battles.
FedEx moves 17 million packages per day across hundreds of countries. Since
the implementation of tariffs, company executives warned that it would put a dent in the company’s overall earnings, according to NBC News. FedEx said when tariffs were in effect under the now-overturned International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the company imported goods from countries subject to the duties.In September, before the IEEPA tariffs were rescinded, FedEx announced the hit could be $1 billion during fiscal year 2026.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, adding that it has been “particularly challenging for small exporters.”
Other companies have filed
lawsuits against the Trump administration seeking refunds of tariffs before the levies were ruled unlawful. In December 2025, Costco sought a full refund of the tariffs it had paid under IEEPA, claiming that about a third of its U.S. sales are from imported products.Cosmetics brand Revlon, eyeglasses maker EssilorLuxottica, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki, canned foods seller Bumble Bee, Japanese auto supplier Yokohama Tire, and others filed similar suits in the past several months.
After the president labeled the Supreme Court ruling “terrible” and accused the justices who voted 6-3 against the policy of being “fools,” elected officials like avid Trump
critics Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom are also calling for compensation. “On behalf of the people of Illinois, I demand a refund of $1,700 for every family in Illinois,” Pritzker wrote in a letter.“There are 5,105,448 households in my state, bringing the total damages you owe to $8,679,261,600.”
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