The fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision striking down President Trump’s tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act is escalating fast, and now it involves billions of dollars.
FedEx has officially filed a lawsuit against the United States government seeking a “full refund” of tariffs it paid under the IEEPA authority that the Court ruled was used improperly. The complaint, filed in the U.S. Court of International Trade, is the first major case demanding reimbursement since the high court determined that President Trump exceeded his authority when he imposed sweeping tariffs using emergency powers.
The Supreme Court ruled that tariffs enacted under IEEPA were invalid. What the justices did not do, however, was clarify whether companies that already paid those tariffs are entitled to refunds. That silence opened the door to exactly what we are now seeing.
According to CBS News, FedEx is asking the trade court to order Customs and Border Protection to refund all duties it paid under IEEPA last year. In its complaint, FedEx wrote, “This Court has jurisdiction and authority to order remedial relief and refunds of IEEPA duties paid by importers,” adding, “Plaintiffs have paid IEEPA duties to the United States and thus have suffered injury caused by those orders.”
Sell the stock if you own any.
Make it go viral. #boycottfedex
— Don Foster (@donny3452) February 23, 2026
In other words, the company believes it is owed money back from the American taxpayer.
FedEx has not publicly specified the dollar amount it is seeking. But CNBC reported that as recently as September, the company estimated it could take a $1 billion hit to earnings because of U.S. trade policies, not all of which were tied to IEEPA. That figure represented about 16 percent of its total earnings for the prior fiscal year. If even a portion of that relates to the invalidated tariffs, we are talking about potentially billions in refund claims.
A FedEx spokesperson said, “Supporting our customers as they navigate regulatory changes remains our priority,” and that the company is taking action “to protect the company’s rights as an importer of record.” The company also acknowledged that no refund process has yet been established by regulators or the courts.
This is where things get messy. Trade experts have warned that the Court’s ruling could trigger a flood of lawsuits from businesses seeking reimbursement for tariff payments made over the last year. If lower courts begin ordering refunds, the financial implications could stretch into the billions, and legal wrangling could drag on for years.
Critics argue that corporations willingly complied with tariff requirements while benefiting from the broader trade framework. Now, with the policy struck down, they are looking to claw back taxpayer dollars. Supporters of the lawsuit counter that if a policy is ruled unlawful, businesses should not be forced to absorb the cost.
The Supreme Court’s decision did not just reshape trade policy. It may now trigger a wave of claims that could hit federal coffers hard, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for a policy that the Court says should never have been implemented in the first place.
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