Rivian, the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, has filed a lawsuit against the US government seeking a full refund of tariffs it paid under President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ taxes. The company joins a long line of companies seeking such refunds, with Rivian’s CFO estimating that it stands to reap a refund in the ‘tens of millions of dollars.’
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday in the US Court of International Trade, names the US government, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and its commissioner Rodney Scott as defendants. CBP collected the tariffs on behalf of the Trump administration, which tried to justify them under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In a statement to TechCrunch, CBP said that over $121 billion in both ‘potential and certified refunds have been accepted for processing.’ The agency did not comment specifically on the lawsuit.
Rivian’s action comes as the company is in the middle of rolling out its first mass-market SUV, the R2. It expects to ship around 20,000-25,000 of them by the end of this year and help the company finally reach profitability. However, reaching that goal may not happen until 2028, as Rivian is plowing a lot of money into developing autonomous vehicles at the moment.
The company recently sold shares to raise around $1.3 billion to help pad out its cash balance in the meantime. According to Rivian’s lawsuit, the company wants a guarantee that it will get its money — and the proper amount — back from the government.
‘Although the Supreme Court invalidated the tariffs, this separate action remains necessary because importers that have paid IEEPA tariffs, including Plaintiffs, are not guaranteed a refund of amounts previously paid based on the Supreme Court’s decision,’ Rivian’s lawyers wrote in the complaint.
Rivian did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company’s CEO RJ Scaringe told Reuters last year after the tariffs were imposed that he expected the cost of each vehicle to rise by ‘a couple of thousand dollars’ as a result.
The resulting environment of retaliatory trade or other practices or additional trade restrictions or barriers has harmed, and could continue to harm, our ability to obtain necessary raw materials, components and equipment and could harm our ability to sell our products and services at prices customers are willing to pay,’ the company wrote in a regulatory filing earlier this year.
Rivian is asking the trade court to declare the tariffs ‘contrary to law,’ issue a refund with interest, and pay any associated court fees. When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
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