Costco Wholesale, America’s favourite wholesale shopping destination, has sued the Trump administration before the Court of International Trade.
It has asked the court to consider all tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act unlawful. The company will not wait to see whether the Supreme Court strikes down President Donald Trump’s sweeping import taxes, instead they are going to court to demand refunds on the tariffs they’ve paid.
The company said in a filing Friday that it is seeking a “full refund” of all duties under the act paid as a result of Trump’s executive order that imposed what he called “reciprocal” tariffs.
Costco demands a refund on duties
Through the end of October, the government had collected US$205 billion in tariffs, and White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement: “The economic consequences of the failure to uphold President Trump’s lawful tariffs are enormous and this suit highlights that fact. The White House looks forward to the Supreme Court’s speedy and proper resolution of this matter.”
With Friday’s lawsuit, Costco becomes the latest major company to seek tariff refunds through the courts. Cosmetics giant Revlon, eyeglasses maker EssilorLuxottica, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki, Yokohama Tire and many smaller firms have also filed similar suits.
Trump became the first president ever to use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) law to impose import duties. Lower courts earlier ruled against the administration’s use of the law but kept the tariffs in place while the case was argued.
In the lawsuit, Costco’s lawyer wrote: “Because IEEPA does not clearly authorise the President to set tariffs … the Challenged Tariff Orders cannot stand and the defendants are not authorised to implement and collect them.”
According to the US Customs and Border Protection data, importers have paid nearly US$90 billion under the IEEPA law through late September 2025.
Costco did not say in the filing how much the duties have cost the company, but in May, on the company’s earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip told investors that about a third of its sales in the US are imported products. He said items imported from China represented about 8 per cent of total US sales.
The company held back from increasing prices on fresh food items such as pineapples and bananas. Milkerchip said: “We essentially held the price on those to make sure that we’re protecting the member.”
The specialised US Court of International Trade in New York and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled earlier this year that Trump’s biggest and boldest import taxes are illegal. The case is now before the Supreme Court.
Trump claims that he has an almost unlimited right to impose tariffs – a power the Constitution gives to Congress, under the 1977 IEEPA – but has now lost twice in court.
