Costco sues Trump administration over tariffs, seeks full refund

Costco is suing the Trump administration for a refund on tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Photo / Getty Images

Retail giant Costco, which sells hundreds of imported items ranging from tyres and golf balls to mangoes and salmon, is suing the Trump administration, seeking a full refund on the duties it has paid because of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs imposed this year.

Costco filed a lawsuit at the US Court of International Trade on Friday, saying the administration’s tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) are unlawful. The 1977 law has historically been used to impose sanctions against other nations.

It comes as the Supreme Court is considering whether Trump has legal authority to impose tariffs on a vast range of goods from nearly all countries. In oral arguments last month, conservative justices pondered the implications of granting the President broad tariff authority, in a sign the court could strike down or limit Trump’s signature economic policy.

Costco joins dozens of other companies, including motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki and canned foods maker Bumble Bee, that have filed suits seeking tariff refunds. Costco, Kawasaki and Bumble Bee all say their lawsuits are necessary because they won’t be guaranteed a refund even if the high court rules that the tariffs are unlawful.

Trump says the tariffs are justified to reduce an annual US trade deficit that he declared in April amounted to a “national emergency”.

The Trump administration has already collected about US$88 billion ($202.7b) in IEEPA tariffs through September and is projected to take in US$2.3t over the next decade, according to the nonprofit Tax Foundation. Total duties collected by US Customs and Border Protection have roughly doubled in the 2025 fiscal year from previous years, official figures through August 31 show.

Costco did not say in its filing how much it has paid in tariff levies, but Gary Millerchip, Costco’s chief financial officer, said in a May earnings call that about one-third of the company’s US sales were from imported goods. About two-thirds of those items were non-food, while goods imported from China represented about 8% of total US sales, he said.

Millerchip said Costco had increased prices on some items such as flowers imported from Central and South America, betting that customers would be willing to absorb some of the tariff levies because flowers are discretionary items.

But Costco had sought to minimise price increases on “staple items” such as fresh fruits like pineapples or bananas that were imported from the same regions, even if that reduced the company’s margins, Millerchip said.

Costco chief executive Ron Vachris said in September that his company would “do everything we can to mitigate tariff impacts” and avoid passing on price increases to customers.

“If we do [increase prices], we are going to be the last one to go up and always the first one to go down in any opportunities we have out there.”

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