American electric trucks and SUV manufacturer Rivian sued the US government last week to withdraw tariffs paid under President Donald Trump’s “Independence Day” trade policy – tariffs that the Supreme Court has already ruled unconstitutional.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. Commerce Court, names the U.S. government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott as defendants. The automaker wants the court to declare the tariffs “unlawful,” order refunds with interest, and require CBP to pay related court costs.
Why is Rivian suing?
In April 2025, President Trump declared a national emergency over what he called the persistent trade deficit in the US and used the International Economic Power Act to impose tariffs on almost every country the US trades with – a base 10%, with equivalent rates of up to 50% in other countries. Rivian says the tariffs have added “hundreds of dollars” to the cost of each vehicle, hampered its access to raw materials and parts and hampered its ability to compete on price.
In February, the Supreme Court ruled that the IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose taxes. The 1977 law was designed as a punitive instrument – freezing assets and banning transactions with designated entities – without finding anything in its text about taxes, duties or revenue.
That decision ended the legal basis for the “Liberation Day” tax, but did not resolve who would receive the money or how. That gap is what Rivian’s lawyers say the new lawsuit is trying to close.
What the EV automaker wants
Rivian’s lawsuit asks the court to declare the import tariffs paid under the IEEPA “unlawful” and order CBP to process any goods that “have been subject to IEEPA tariff inspections.” Rivian wants the US government to issue a refund of the IEEPA taxes collected “with interest as provided by law,” as well as costs, attorney’s fees and other relief.
Rivian CFO Claire McDonough said on the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call in April that she expects the company’s cash flow to be in the “tens of millions of dollars.”
A large line of companies
Rivian did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit, but the automaker is not alone. According to reports earlier this month, about $71 billion in IEEPA tax refunds had been paid, a fraction of the more than $121 billion in refunds CBP told TechCrunch it had received for processing.
Rivian’s outfit is just one entry in a long line of companies in many industries trying to turn “the bill was illegal” into a real check, like Nintendo.
See the full history