The legal aftershocks of a blockbuster U.S. Supreme Court ruling are now rattling the shipping lanes.
A proposed class action filed in federal court in Miami accuses FedEx of holding onto tariff-related payments that customers say never should have been collected in the first place. The lawsuit follows a 6–3 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court declaring that former President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he invoked emergency powers to impose sweeping import tariffs.
At the heart of the dispute is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, the statute Trump relied upon to levy billions in duties. The court’s ruling effectively wiped out that tariff regime. Now, shippers want their money back — not just from Washington, but from the companies that collected the fees.
The Miami lawsuit seeks to represent potentially millions of customers who paid import duties and brokerage fees on goods that, according to the complaint, should have entered the country duty-free. The plaintiffs argue that while FedEx has publicly said it would pass along any refunds it receives, that pledge carries no binding legal weight.
FedEx responded that if it obtains refunds tied to those tariffs, it intends to return the funds to the shippers and consumers who bore the charges. The new lawsuit, however, aims to lock that promise into enforceable relief.
The named plaintiff says he was charged $36 in connection with a pair of tennis shoes purchased from a German retailer — $21 attributed to IEEPA duties and $15 in brokerage and clearance costs. The complaint argues that none of those charges should have applied.
Meanwhile, the broader tariff battle is unfolding in parallel. FedEx itself is among roughly 2,000 companies seeking to recover duties directly from the federal government in the U.S. Court of International Trade. Major corporations have joined that wave, including toy giant Hasbro, cosmetics heavyweight L’Oreal, appliance maker Dyson, vision-care company Bausch + Lomb, warehouse retailer Costco, and apparel brand J. Crew.
The ruling has cracked open a complex chain reaction: importers suing the government, customers suing carriers, and billions of dollars in limbo. What began as a fight over executive power is fast becoming a nationwide scramble over who ultimately foots the bill.
