Rivian has sued the US government seeking a full refund, plus interest, for tariffs it paid under President Trump’s “Liberation Day” measures after the Supreme Court ruled those tariffs unconstitutional. The case matters because it could help determine how readily importers can recover payments already collected, while Rivian is trying to conserve cash during the launch of its R2 mass-market SUV.

Rivian’s chief financial officer said in April that the company could receive tens of millions of dollars. The lawsuit names the government, US Customs and Border Protection and its commissioner; CBP says it has accepted more than $121 billion in potential and certified refunds for processing, while the Cato Institute estimated earlier this month that $71 billion had been paid out. Rivian says a separate court order is needed to ensure it receives the correct amount, and it previously estimated the tariffs initially added a couple of thousand dollars per vehicle before mitigation reduced the impact to low hundreds of dollars.