A Miami man claims FedEx unlawfully collected import charges on products that should have been duty-free.
Plaintiff Matthew Reiser filed his class action complaint in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division. The named defendants are Federal Express Corporation and affiliate FedEx Logistics Inc.
According to Reiser’s complaint, the proposed class consists of “all persons in the United States who paid import charges to FedEx on goods classified under HTSUS subheadings with a Column 1-General duty rate of ‘Free’ during the period the IEEPA tariffs were in effect.”
HTSUS is the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. It is the official 10-digit classification system used to determine tariff rates and regulations for all goods imported into the U.S.
The IEEPA is the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. It is a 1977 U.S. law that authorizes the President to regulate commerce, freeze foreign assets, or impose sanctions during a declared national emergency.
Beginning in February 2025, President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders invoking IEEPA to impose new tariffs on goods imported from nearly every foreign country.
These included tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico, escalating tariffs on imports from China reaching as high as 145 percent, and a baseline 10 percent tariff on nearly all other imports under the “reciprocal tariff” order of April 2, 2025, with higher country-specific rates ranging from 11 to 50 percent on 57 countries.
“For these products, no duty would have been assessed under any lawful tariff authority,” the 19-page proposed class action complaint states. “The IEEPA tariff was the sole source of duty liability, and every dollar of duties and associated brokerage fees FedEx collected on such shipments is directly attributable to the void tariff regime.”
Reiser argues that on Feb. 20, 2026 the U.S. Supreme Court held in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump that “IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
“This action presents an actual, concrete controversy that is ripe for adjudication,” the complaint states. “FedEx collected from consumers both unlawful IEEPA duties and ancillary fees for customs processing that was necessitated solely by those void tariffs.
“For duty-free products, the entire customs entry was unnecessary because the products would have entered duty-free without any formal or informal entry filing.”
When goods are shipped internationally into the U.S. through FedEx’s shipping services, Federal Express Corporation transports the goods and affiliate FedEx Logistics Inc. provides customs brokerage services. FedEx Logistics Inc. also serves as the importer of record for consumer shipments processed as informal entries.
According to the class action complaint, FedEx Logistics Inc. also is named as a co-plaintiff in the pending Court of International Trade action seeking refund of IEEPA duties.
“Upon information and belief, FedEx Logistics Inc. advanced the IEEPA duties, then collected the advance from consumers and is now seeking recovery of the IEEPA duties that were funded by consumers, including Plaintiff and proposed Class members,” the filing states.
According to the World Trade Organization, approximately 47.5 percent of all U.S. tariff lines carry a zero Column 1-General duty rate.
A substantial proportion of commonly imported consumer goods, including electronics and electrical equipment, sporting goods, certain apparel and footwear, scientific and medical instruments, machinery, and numerous other manufactured products, fall within duty-free classifications.
“For each of these products, the only duties ever assessed were IEEPA tariffs that the Supreme Court has now declared were never lawfully authorized,” the complaint states.
Reiser also points out that three days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, on Feb. 23, 2026, FedEx filed its own lawsuit – Federal Express Corp. and FedEx Logistics Inc. v. U.S. Customs and Border Protection – in the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking a “full refund” of all IEEPA duties it paid to the United States.
“FedEx’s complaint seeks recovery of the very funds that consumers like Plaintiff provided to FedEx, asserting that FedEx ‘seek[s] for themselves a full refund from Defendants of all IEEPA duties [FedEx] paid to the United States,’” the class action filing states.
“FedEx’s CIT complaint seeks only the refund of duties and does not address the ancillary brokerage fees FedEx collected – fees that FedEx will retain even if its duty refund claim is granted.”
Reiser seeks class action certification, appointing him as class representative and his counsel as class counsel.
He also seeks a declaratory judgment that FedEx is obligated to refund him and the class all IEEPA duties and ancillary brokerage fees it collected from them on duty-free products, and that FedEx is required to provide a “full accounting” of all IEEPA duties and ancillary fees collected from proposed class members.
In addition, he seeks an award of restitution and/or damages in the amount of all IEEPA duties and ancillary brokerage fees collected by FedEx from the proposed class on duty-free products, plus prejudgment interest, and attorneys’ fees.
Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group in Tampa and Morgan & Morgan PA in Orlando are representing Reiser in the class action.
