Costco Wholesale marched into the Court of International Trade on Friday, armed with bulk-sized grievances and a lawsuit the length of an aisle map, demanding a full refund for every tariff imposed under President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” executive order. In its filing, Costco argued that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes many things, panic, paperwork, and presidential grandstanding, but not surprise markups on 64-pack paper towel bundles.
“IEEPA does not clearly authorize the President to set tariffs,” Costco’s lawyer wrote, in what legal analysts described as “the polite version of: Absolutely not, sir.”
The Supreme Court, currently reviewing the legality of Trump’s tariff extravaganza, seemed unconvinced by the government’s defense. During oral arguments, justices across the ideological buffet grilled Solicitor General D. John Sauer with equal opportunity skepticism. Some conservative justices were gentler, but only in the way Costco’s frozen-foods aisle is warmer than its walk-in meat locker.
