FedEx vows to pass any tariff refunds it gets from the U.S. on to customers

FedEx is pledging to return any tariff costs it charged to customers if the Trump administration refunds the delivery company for the levies. 

“If refunds are issued to FedEx, we will issue refunds to the shippers and consumers who originally bore those charges,” FedEx said in a statement on Thursday. “When that will happen and the exact process for requesting and issuing refunds will depend in part on future guidance from the government and the court.”

FedEx said it will reimburse customers days after it filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of International Trade demanding that the Trump administration offer a “full refund” of all payments the company made under a set of tariff policies that were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. 

“FedEx has taken necessary action to protect the company’s rights as an importer of record to seek duty refunds from U.S. Customs and Border Protection following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that the tariffs issued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful,” the company said in a statement to CBS News.

The high court’s Feb. 20 ruling did not address the matter of refunds for businesses that paid tariffs imposed last year by President Trump under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.

Since that decision, several companies have filed suit seeking tariff refunds, including Bausch + Lomb,  Dyson and L’Oreal. 

The issue is likely to play out in the courts and could drag on for years, according to legal experts. 

On Tuesday, the libertarian-leaning Liberty Justice Center, which represented some of the original plaintiffs that were part of the Supreme Court decision, said it, along with co-counsel Neal Katyal, filed coordinated motions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit as well as the Court of International Trade, to help create a process for refunds. A response from the government is due Friday.