FedEx customers sue company for tariff refunds after US Supreme Court ruling

By Mike Scarcella

WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - FedEx FDX.N was sued in federal court on Friday on behalf of customers seeking refunds from the global shipping company after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled this month that President Donald Trump unlawfully imposed billions of dollars in emergency tariffs on imported goods.

The proposed class action in the federal court in Miami, Florida, seeks compensation for potentially millions of shippers who paid import duties and related fees on products that they said should have entered the United States duty-free.

FedEx said in a statement on Friday: “If refunds are issued to FedEx, we will issue refunds to the shippers and consumers who originally bore those charges.”

Friday's lawsuit said FedEx's promise was not legally enforceable. “Our goal is to return to American consumers every penny they were improperly charged,” said John Yanchunis, a lawyer for plaintiff Matthew Reiser, a Miami resident.

FedEx is among at least 2,000 companies already suing the federal government in the U.S. Court of International Trade to recover tariffs they paid on imported goods under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on February 20 in a 6-3 decision that Trump overstepped his authority by using the emergency powers law to impose sweeping tariffs.

Reiser, the plaintiff in Friday's lawsuit, said FedEx billed him $36 - $21 in IEEPA duties and $15 in brokerage and clearance fees - for his purchase of tennis shoes from a German retailer. The lawsuit said no duty should have been required.

On Friday, toymaker Hasbro HAS.O joined the thousands of companies suing the government for tariff refunds in the U.S. Court of International Trade. French beauty group L'Oreal OREP.PA, British vacuum manufacturer Dyson and contact lens maker Bausch + Lomb BLCO.TO also have filed lawsuits, in addition to retailers such as Costco COST.O and J. Crew.