by Mitti Hicks
December 2, 2025
Trade data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency reveals that importers, including Costco, have paid nearly $90 billion in IEEPA-related tariffs as of September.
Costco Wholesale is suing the Trump administration for a full refund of all duties it paid under Trump’s executive order for “reciprocal” tariffs.
According to the BBC, lawyers representing Costco filed the lawsuit over Thanksgiving weekend at the U.S. Court of International Trade. Costco is asking the court to consider all tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) as unlawful.
“Because IEEPA does not clearly authorize the President to set tariffs … the Challenged Tariff Orders cannot stand, and the defendants are not authorized to implement and collect them,” Costco’s lawyer wrote in the lawsuit, NBC News reports.
While it’s unclear how much the world’s third-largest retailer is seeking, Costco lawyers said business has suffered because of the tariffs. Trade data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency reveals that importers, including Costco, have paid nearly $90 billion in IEEPA-related tariffs as of September.
Costco’s Chief Financial Officer, Gary Millerchip, told investors during a May earnings call that about a third of the company’s sales in the U.S. are imported products.
The retailer filed the lawsuit before Dec. 15, which makes it easier for Costco to recover any funds it paid to the government.
Trump is the first president ever to use the IEEPA law to impose import duties. Two lower courts have already ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by using emergency powers to impose tariffs. The lower court kept the tariffs in place while the case was argued. The case is now in the hands of the Supreme Court, and several other companies are trying to protect their rights to refunds if the justices strike down the tariffs.
The cosmetics company Revlon, eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki, Japanese auto supplier Yokohama Tire, canned food seller Bumble Bee, and other smaller businesses have filed similar suits.
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