Costco Sues for Refunds Before Supreme Court Rules on Tariff Legality

The retail giant’s complaint requests a complete refund of duties it has already paid if the Supreme Court decides that the tariffs are unlawful.

A Costco Wholesale warehouse sign is seen outside of a store in Silver Spring, Md., on Aug. 5, 2023. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Retail giant Costco Wholesale Corporation filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Nov. 28 in an effort to lay the groundwork for refunds of tariffs collected since President Donald Trump enacted global tariff policies under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The complaint filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Manhattan argued that the president’s invocation of the act beginning in February illegally imposed tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, Canada, and China. Trump has said that tariffs were justified as a matter of national emergency because of the amount of fentanyl making its way into the United States from those countries, and that the global levies are a necessary tool to negotiate trade deals that level the playing field between the United States and key global trade partners.