A shopper pushes a cart toward the entrance of a Costco warehouse in Colorado.
David Zalubowski/AP
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David Zalubowski/AP
Costco is now one of the largest companies suing the Trump administration over the tariffs, hoping to recover if the Supreme Court rules the new import tariffs illegal.
The Supreme Court is weighing the future of President Trump's tariffs on nearly all imports. Judges seemed skeptical about the legality of the tariffs during oral arguments last month. Lower courts found it earlier that Trump misused emergency economic powers to set most of the new fees.
Dozens of companies across industries have filed lawsuits seeking damages if the Supreme Court rules Trump's tariffs illegal. The list includes cosmetics giant Revlon, canned food maker Bumble Bee and Kawasaki, which makes motorcycles and more. Now Costco has joined the line.
“This is the first time we've seen large companies publicly pull their heads out of the sand,” said Mark Busch, a trade law expert at Georgetown University. For the most part, small companies are leading the lawsuits against the tariffs, he said, adding: “It's good to finally see some heavyweights joining the fight.”
In his lawsuit filed In the U.S. Court of International Trade, Costco did not say how much it had already paid in tariffs. But the retail giant is concerned that even if the Supreme Court ultimately strikes down Trump's tariff regime, it may not be able to get all that money back.
Costco executives said in May that about a third of what it sells in the U.S. comes from abroad, mostly non-food items.
NPR's Scott Horsley contributed to this report.
