Costco just dropped a legal bomb, filing a massive lawsuit that demands a full refund for tariffs if the Supreme Court decides to strike down President Trump’s sweeping trade taxes, as per The Hill. They’re joining dozens of major corporations that have lined up recently, all hoping to reclaim what could be billions of dollars if the court rules against the administration.
The sheer scale of this legal chaos is genuinely stunning. You’ve got companies from every corner of the economy jumping in. We’re talking about massive players in the auto industry like Kawasaki and several corporations that are part of the Toyota Group. Even the food business is involved, with names like Bumble Bee Foods filing suits. The list stretches to cosmetics with Revlon and even includes niche businesses like the board game maker Smirk & Dagger Games.
It’s a frenzy of litigation right now. This proactive filing is absolutely necessary for these companies, which is a terrible sign for the government’s legal position. Costco, like the others, stated clearly that it needed to file its own case because it is “not guaranteed a refund for those unlawfully collected tariffs in the absence of their own judgment and judicial relief.”
Much of this coordinated action is being handled by a single law firm
Crowell & Moring represents Costco and has brought roughly 50 nearly identical lawsuits on behalf of these separate companies. They know exactly what they’re doing, and they’re making sure their clients are positioned perfectly to reclaim funds should the government lose the main fight.
All of this legal maneuvering is happening because the Supreme Court is getting ready to deliver a decision that could invalidate the entire tariff scheme. At the heart of the matter is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, a 1970s emergency powers law. The critical question is whether President Trump had the authority to invoke this specific act to justify his widespread tariffs. The justices heard oral arguments on this crucial case last month.
The IEEPA is designed to give the president unilateral power to “regulate” importation when it’s necessary to combat a declared national emergency. However, a group of Democratic-led states and several small businesses are arguing that the president has stretched that legal justification way too far.
President Trump first invoked the IEEPA to declare a fentanyl emergency, using that justification to impose levies on Canada, China, and Mexico. Since then, he has expanded the scope, declaring a “trade deficit emergency” to implement his “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners across the globe. However, we already have a precedent of a federal court striking down Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
If the Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs, it’s going to cause monumental financial chaos. Not only would the tariffs disappear, but the government would be on the hook for refunding potentially billions of dollars to the dozens of companies that have been smart enough to file their own individual lawsuits.
These corporations clearly aren’t waiting around to see what happens. They’re proactively securing their financial future, which is definitely the right move here.
Published: Dec 2, 2025 06:00 pm