$175B Tariff Flip Sends FedEx Sprinting Toward the Refund Window (Which Doesn’t Exist)

Kid: Mommy, how did we get so rich?

Mom: Because Daddy’s company sued the President over a $1B tariff bill… and his options position turned into a fireworks show when the verdict hit.

Welcome to the most American sequel imaginable: everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is about to start suing over tariffs.

After the Court yanked the keys to Donnie’s tariff car under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the chase for refunds has officially begun. And like any great supply-chain story, the invoice is sliding downhill to the last guy holding the clipboard.

Leading the “run me my money” tour is FedEx. The purple-and-orange jumpsuits filed suit against the federal government and CBP, asking for every dollar back from duties now declared legally allergic to the Constitution. Translation: “You charged us. The Court said you couldn’t. Run it back.”

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by using IEEPA to impose sweeping global tariffs… including on those juicy little de minimis shipments under $800 that used to glide into the country duty-free. That ruling potentially cracks open refunds on more than $175 billion in collected duties.

Small problem: there is currently no refund process. In Trump’s defense, I guarantee you he didn’t even think this whole Supreme Court reversing his tariffs was even a possibility.

(Source: The Guardian)

And get this, because before FedEx even filed its suit… one of its own customers sued them (spidermand meme intensifies).

Hali Anastopoulo, a South Carolina freight forwarder and customs broker, filed a class action seeking over $5 million in repayment of duties, interest, and related costs. The allegation? FedEx retroactively billed customers weeks after shipments had already cleared… passing through tariffs that, as the lawsuit argues, were unlawful from the jump.

The complaint basically says: “Your contract lets you collect lawful duties. These weren’t lawful. Cut the check, and STAT.”

FedEx, for its part, says it’s just protecting its rights as an importer of record. The company previously warned tariffs could dent profits by up to $1 billion this fiscal year. Investors responded by… bidding the stock slightly higher. Because if there’s one thing Wall Street respects, it’s a company aggressively chasing its cash.

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs stopped collecting IEEPA duties yesterday. Unfortunately, nobody installed the returns desk. Needless to say, the real drama is just beginning.

Importers are floating in paperwork purgatory. Corporations want their cash back. Clients want their pass-through charges reversed. And somewhere in Washington, someone is realizing that signing a $175B check is slightly more complicated than approving a lunch reimbursement.

But everyone can agree on one thing: nobody wants to be holding the bill.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.