US trade court certifies importer class seeking IEEPA tariff refunds

Which importers are included

Slip Opinion 26-123 defines the class as all importers of record that paid duties under the challenged International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariff orders between 1 February 2025 and 19 February 2026. Entities that separately filed an action seeking recovery of IEEPA duties are excluded. The court appointed Freestyle World as class representative and appointed class counsel; the definition applies for all purposes, including settlement.^[1]

Class-wide customs relief

The court applied its Rule 23(b)(2), which permits class treatment where government conduct applies generally to the class and injunctive or declaratory relief is appropriate for the class as a whole. The requested remedy concerns liquidation or reliquidation of customs entries without the challenged IEEPA duties. The court treated associated refunds as an incidental, mechanically calculable consequence of that customs relief, rather than damages requiring separate adjudication of each importer’s injury.^[1][2]

This is a mandatory Rule 23(b)(2) class, not a Rule 23(b)(3) damages class with an opt-out mechanism. However, certification answers the procedural question of class treatment: it does not itself grant the requested injunction, determine every entry’s treatment or establish a payment timetable. The court expressly distinguished certification from deciding the merits of the requested relief.^[1][2]

Practical implications for groups

For multinational groups, the definition makes the identity of the importer of record, records of duties actually paid and any separately filed recovery action important to assessing class membership. It is not enough that a group bought imported goods or bore their commercial cost. The order scheduled a conference for 13 October and required a joint proposed timetable by 22 October, including a proposed deadline for the government’s response to the complaint; 22 October is not itself that response deadline.^[1]