FedEx is first to sue Trump administration for tariff refund
FedEX sues Trump administration over tariff refunds
FedEx is suing the U.S. government for a tariff refund after the Supreme Court ruled President Trump’s use of emergency powers to levy them was unconstitutional. FOX 4's Shaun Rabb has more.
DALLAS - FedEx is the first major company in the United States to sue for a refund following the Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs.
Tariff Refund
FedEx facility in Coppell, Texas
The backstory:
On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled that tariffs levied under President Donald Trump’s emergency economic powers are unconstitutional, affecting as much as $175 billion collected since this past April.
President Trump sharply attacked the six justices – including two of his appointees – who voted against him.
"So they write this terrible defective decision, totally defective. It’s almost like not written by smart people," he said.
The court’s majority ruling did not define what to do with the billions already collected. The president argued that revenue would be tied up in court for years.
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Big picture view:
FedEx is the first to test that argument. In its 11-page filing, the company said it has "suffered injury" from having to pay the tariffs. Now the global carrier wants its money back.
And while FedEx was the first to file following the ruling, plenty of other suits were filed before the court’s decision.
"There’s about 2,000 cases pending in the Court of International Trade by various companies and groups of companies hoping to recoup the cost of the tariffs that they’ve paid," said Alex Jacquez, the chief policy and advocacy director at Groundwork Collective, a D.C.-based economic policy think tank.
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The Court of International Trade is a New York-based federal court that handles cases related to U.S. customs and trade laws. It’s comprised of nine judges appointed by the president, but only five can be from the same political party.
Jacquez said that court will have to figure out how to deal with all of these lawsuits involving tens of thousands of importers with millions of entries over the past year.
"It’s going to be confusing. It’s going to be an administrative headache. And businesses, I think, are rightly worried about the economic uncertainty about having to deal with getting their money back from the tariffs they’ve already paid," he said.
Local perspective:
According to some experts, Texas businesses have been hit the hardest by the tariffs because of the state’s high volume of imports and exports with Mexico, Canada, China, Germany, and Japan.
The estimated cost for Texas businesses was more than $11 billion.
And what about the cost for Texas consumers? The experts said it’s even less likely that you’ll see any refund for what you’ve paid in higher prices unless Congress takes some action.
The Source: FOX 4's Shaun Rabb gathered information for this story by talking to Alex Jacquez, the chief policy and advocacy director at Groundwork Collective. Other details are from national reports.