Costco sues Trump admin seeking tariff refunds before SCOTUS rules if they’re illegal

by AKALib

Community

(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday, Dec. 01, 2025 Monday, Dec. 01, 2025 at 5:42:58pm PST

From left: Advisor and former CFO Richard Galanti, merchandising chief Claudine Adamo, CEO Ron Vachris, and CFO Gary Millerchip at a Costco in Issaquah, Washington in May 2024.

Costco has sued the Trump administration to get a full refund of new tariffs it paid so far this year, and to block those import duties from continuing to be collected from the retail warehouse club giant as a Supreme Court case plays out.

Costco sues for Trump tariff refunds before Supreme Court rules on if they're illegal
— CNBC (@cnbc.com) 2025-12-01T23:52:58.929Z

From www.cnbc.com/…

Costco filed a lawsuit asking for a full refund of tariffs the warehouse club giant has paid since President Donald Trump imposed “reciprocal” and “fentanyl” tariffs earlier this year.

Costco’s suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade notes that it might not be able to get the refunds later, even if the Supreme Court upholds lower court rulings that the tariffs are illegal.

Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose those often high tariffs on imports from most of the world’s nations.

The news report stated -

The company noted a looming Dec. 15 deadline that could prevent the tariffs that it has already paid on an estimated basis from being refunded.

Costco’s suit, filed in the U.S Court of International Trade, said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied the company’s request to extend the Dec. 15 date of so-called liquidation, the final computation of tariffs assessed on imported items.

Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip said that —

while Costco was seeing a direct impact from tariffs on imports of some fresh food items from Central and South America, it decided not to increase prices "because they are key staple items" for its customers.

The court filing is at storage.courtlistener.com/…

Few other companies have filed similar suits. From www.nbcnews.com/… —

Global cosmetics giant Revlon, eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica, motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki, canned foods seller Bumble Bee, Japanese auto supplier Yokohama Tire and many smaller firms have also filed similar suits.

Earlier this year, Costco and its shareholders overwhelmingly voted against proposals/threats from the White House targeting its DEI programs.

From www.diversityresources.com/...

Costco’s leadership reaffirmed that DEI isn’t just a box to check, it’s central to their employee strategy and rooted in the company’s core ethics.

Bravo, Costco! You have principles, you have guts and you have heart.

Let’s all send some business their way, instead of filling the coffers of giant retailers like Amazon, who have sold their souls to this White House. Let’s also make some noise and good trouble over this, so that other businesses can find the the courage to stand up to this regime instead of bending the knee.