Costco sues Trump administration for US tariff refund

Before the US Supreme Court weighs in on the legality of tariffs, Costco has filed a lawsuit against the administration of US President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit also calls for the imposition of import duties to be blocked.

Recommended Stories

list of 4 itemsend of list

Due to the December 15 deadline for refunding taxes that have already been paid, Costco claimed that the tariffs must be resolved right away. The lawsuit claims that US Customs and Border Protection refused to grant the company’s request for an extension of the deadline.

Costco did not specify how much money it thinks should be reimbursed.

According to the lawsuit, “Importers who have paid IEEPA duties, including Plaintiff, are not guaranteed a refund for those unlawfully collected tariffs in the absence of their own judgment and judicial relief.”

Costco is also asking for a pause in future collections, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the US Court of International Trade.

According to the lawsuit, “Plaintiff seeks relief from the impending liquidations to ensure that its right to a full refund is not threatened.”

The wholesale warehouse giant joins other large corporations in bringing legal action against the administration, including Revlon and Ray-Ban, which produce eyeglasses. Crowell &amp, Moring, a law firm, represents Costco. The organization declined to comment on Al Jazeera’s request.

According to Gregory Shaffer, professor of international law at Georgetown University School of Law, “They are filing within the statutory deadline in order to receive the]refunds] for the tariffs that were [allegedly]collected illegally.”

According to Shaffer, businesses have 180 days to file a lawsuit over the liquidation or the owed funds.

The final, official calculation and assessment of the duties, taxes, and fees owed on imported goods are the “liquidation of tariffs.”

The lawsuit has been withdrawn by the White House.

This lawsuit highlights the enormous economic repercussions of President Trump’s lawful tariffs, according to the lawsuit. In a written statement to Al Jazeera, White House spokesman Kush Desai stated that the White House anticipates the Supreme Court’s swift and appropriate resolution of this dispute.

The looming Supreme Court decision

The Supreme Court is considering whether the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) grants the White House the authority to impose tariffs.

In the event of a national emergency, the law gives the US president the authority to impose restrictions on imports. Trump’s tariffs have largely raised questions about whether they adhere to those requirements. As justices heard arguments&nbsp nearly a month ago in early November, a decision is looming with an uncertain date.

According to Shaffer, there is a good chance that the court will rule in favor of the Trump administration.

According to Shaffer, “I got the impression that Justice Gorsuch would vote against, given his concerns,” referring to Supreme Court associate justice Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed by Trump during his first term as president.

The questioning raises the possibility that the choice will be made against the Trump administration.

Gorsuch objected to the administration’s interpretation of the IEEPA in oral arguments at the November hearing.

According to Gorsuch, “Congress can’t, in reality, give this power back once it’s been given to the president.”

It’s a one-way ratchet toward the executive branch’s gradual but permanent expansion of power away from the electorates of the people.

Guinea-Bissau’s electoral commission says coup destroyed election results

After armed men seized the ballots, tally sheets, and computers from its offices, and destroyed the results-storing servers, Guinea-Bissau’s electoral commission has declared it is unable to finish the November 23 presidential election.

One day before the commission was scheduled to release the preliminary results of the intensely contested vote, army officers took control on November 26. During the takeover, several structures, including the electoral commission’s headquarters, were attacked.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

Senior electoral commission official Idrissa Djalo said in a statement on Tuesday that “we do not have the material and logistic conditions to carry out the electoral process.”

According to him, “they confiscated the computers of all 45 staff members who were present at the commission that day,” adding that records from all regions had been seized and the server where the results had been stored had been destroyed.

Without the region’s tally sheets, Djalo said, “the electoral process cannot be completed.”

The election process was halted by Major-General Horta Inta-A’s swearing-in as the new transitional president on November 27. Since then, the military has imposed stricter restrictions, putting an end to strikes and demonstrations.

A 28-member cabinet, made largely of people connected to the deposed president, was appointed on Saturday after Inta-A promised a one-year transitional period.

Disputed votes and political repercussions

Three days after the presidential election, both main contenders, opposition candidate Fernando Dias da Costa and incumbent president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, claimed victory before the election’s preliminary results were due, leading to a coup. Since then, no conclusions have been made.

Embalo claimed that he had been deposed and detained while he was in charge of the takeover. Since then, he has fled to Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo’s capital.

Dias da Costa’s protection was cited as an “imminent threat to his life,” according to Nigeria.

Civil rights organizations criticized the PAIGC’s decision, which one of the country’s dominant political parties had blocked them from running in the election. They claimed it was part of a wider crackdown on the opposition.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is putting pressure on Guinea-Bissau’s new military authorities to reinstate constitutional rule and allow the election process to resume.

A high-level delegation from the bloc, led by its current chairman Julius Maada Bio and Sierra Leone’s president, met with military leaders and electoral commission officials in Bissau on Monday to demand a “complete restoration of constitutional order.”

Ex-EU top diplomat Mogherini detained in Belgium fraud case: Reports

According to Belgian media reports, the former top diplomat of the European Union has been detained as part of a diplomatic training program under the umbrella of an anti-fraud investigation.

Federica Mogherini, who led the College of Europe graduate school that teaches a training program for junior EU diplomats from 2014 to 2019, was detained on Tuesday by Belgian police in Brussels, according to Belgian broadcaster VRT, Belga, and Euractiv. She is currently the head of the College of Europe graduate school.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

Police conducted the arrests on the European External Action Service’s diplomatic wing’s Brussels campus and the College of Europe’s campus in Brussels, Belgium.

The searches were announced by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), who said three suspects, who were not identified, had been detained. According to the statement, there was “fraud suspected in connection with EU-funded training for junior diplomats.”

According to a report from the Belgian and French media, Stefano Sannino, a senior EU official who served as EEAS secretary-general from 2021 to 2024, was also detained.

According to the prosecution, the searches were carried out by Belgian federal police at the EPPO’s request and also targeted suspects’ homes.

The European Union Diplomatic Academy, a nine-month training program for junior diplomats across EU states, is at issue, according to the EPPO.

The investigation focuses on whether the tender process was biased in favor of the College of Europe in Belgium during the years 2021-2022.

The College of Europe and the EU Diplomatic Academy are led by Mogherini.

According to the EPPO statement, “there are strong suspicions that one of the candidates participating in the tender shared any confidential information regarding the ongoing procurement.”

Conflict of Interest

The European Commission confirmed the raids and stated that an “ongoing investigation” was being conducted.

According to a commission spokesman, Anitta Hipper, “we can confirm that the police were present at the EEAS buildings today,” adding that this is a part of the ongoing investigation into the activities that occurred prior to the commission’s previous mandate.

High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, Mogherini’s replacement, Josep Borrell, took over the position a year ago.

Prior to the searches, the EPPO claimed to have requested and obtained the removal of several suspects’ immunity.

The prosecutor’s office said the allegations “could be constituted procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest, and violation of professional secrecy” if confirmed.

The investigation is being conducted to determine whether any criminal offenses have occurred, it continued.

The EPPO is the EU’s independent public prosecutor, which is charged with prosecuting illegal activities against the bloc’s financial interests.