Several of the complaints state that the duties on affected imports have either already been “liquidated” — meaning finalized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection — or soon will be. Because customs officials were acting pursuant to executive orders, the companies argue they had no administrative avenue to challenge the assessments directly and must instead seek judicial relief.
In addition to repayment of the tariffs, many of the plaintiffs are requesting interest, litigation costs and attorney fees.
A spokesperson for FedEx said the company initiated legal action to preserve its rights as an importer of record and to pursue recovery of duties paid under the invalidated tariff program.
The legal scramble follows earlier proceedings in which the trade court declined to issue a preliminary injunction to certain retailers challenging the same tariff regime. At the time, the court indicated that importers would retain the ability to seek refunds should the tariffs ultimately be struck down — a scenario that materialized with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
