Rivian sues the US government for ‘full refund’ of Trump tariffs

Rivian has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. authorities successful an effort to claw backmost a “full refund” connected tariffs it paid nether President Trump’s “Liberation Day” taxes, which the Supreme Court aboriginal ruled unconstitutional.

The automaker joins a long enactment of companies seeking specified refunds. In April, Rivian CFO Claire McDonough said she expected the institution stood to reap a refund successful the “tens of millions of dollars.”

Rivian’s enactment comes arsenic the institution is successful the mediate of rolling retired its archetypal mass-market SUV, the R2. It expects to vessel astir 20,000-25,000 of them by the extremity of this year, and assistance the institution yet scope profitability. Reaching that extremity may not hap until 2028, though, arsenic Rivian is plowing a batch of wealth into processing autonomous vehicles astatine the moment. The institution precocious sold shares to raise astir $1.3 billion to assistance pad retired its currency equilibrium successful the meantime.

The lawsuit, filed connected Thursday successful the U.S. Court of International Trade, names the U.S. government, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and its commissioner Rodney Scott arsenic defendants. CBP collected the tariffs connected behalf of the Trump administration, which tried to warrant them nether the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

In a connection to TechCrunch, CBP said that implicit $121  cardinal successful some “potential and certified refunds person been accepted for processing .” The bureau did not remark specifically connected the lawsuit.

Earlier this month, the Cato Institute wrote that $71 cardinal had been paid out, which “suggests that frictions built into” the refund process created “obstacles for importers seeking refunds.”

According to Rivian’s lawsuit, the institution wants a warrant that it volition get its wealth — and the due magnitude — backmost from the government.

“Although the Supreme Court invalidated the tariffs, this abstracted enactment remains indispensable due to the fact that importers that person paid IEEPA tariffs, including Plaintiffs, are not guaranteed a refund of amounts antecedently paid based connected the Supreme Court’s decision,” Rivian’s lawyers wrote successful the complaint.

Rivian did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told Reuters past twelvemonth aft the tariffs were imposed that helium expected the outgo of each conveyance to emergence by “a mates of 1000 dollars” arsenic a result. By the extremity of 2025, helium said the institution had mitigated the interaction to “low hundreds of dollars.”

“The resulting situation of retaliatory commercialized oregon different practices oregon further commercialized restrictions oregon barriers has harmed, and could proceed to harm, our quality to get indispensable earthy materials, components and instrumentality and could harm our quality to merchantability our products and services astatine prices customers are consenting to pay,” the institution wrote successful a regulatory filing earlier this year.

Rivian is asking the commercialized tribunal to state the tariffs “contrary to law,” contented a refund with interest, and wage immoderate associated tribunal fees.