Amazon.com defeats appeal claiming it aided tariff evasion

The logo of Amazon is pictured at a company logistics center in Carquefou near Nantes, westren France, May 6, 2026. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court ‌on Wednesday rejected a whistleblower's claim that Amazon.com (AMZN.O) helped foreign fur manufacturers evade tariffs on products sold on its platform, hurting domestic rivals.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no proof that ​Amazon knew or deliberately ignored that foreign manufacturers paid artificially low tariffs by ​understating the value of their shipments, and that the manufacturers evaded U.S. ⁠Fish and Wildlife Service inspection fees by omitting required forms and shipping through ​ports not overseen by that agency.

Mike Henig, the owner of Montgomery, Alabama-based Henig Furs, said ​Amazon should have realized the foreign manufacturers were able to charge below-market prices by fraudulently avoiding import tariffs and fees between 2007 and 2024, and violated the False Claims Act by shortchanging the federal ​government.

But the New York-based appeals court said there could have been an "innocent explanation" for ​the lower prices, such as economies of scale or lower labor costs.

"Below-market prices alone are therefore insufficient ‌in ⁠this case to show that Amazon was aware of a substantial risk that the foreign manufacturers were submitting false claims," Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel. The decision upheld a lower court judge's January 2025 dismissal.

Amazon is regularly sued by customers ​and businesses that seek ​to hold it responsible ⁠for the conduct of sellers on its platform.

The Seattle-based retailer's revenue in 2025 surpassed that of Walmart (WMT.O), long the world's largest retailer ​by revenue.

Lawyers for Henig did not immediately respond to requests for ​comment. Amazon ⁠and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.

Amazon has also faced other litigation over tariffs.

On Friday, consumers filed a proposed class action accusing Amazon of failing to refund costs passed ⁠on ​to them in the form of higher prices, and ​which resulted from tariffs that the U.S. Supreme Court found were imposed unlawfully by President Donald Trump. Many other companies ​including Costco, FedEx and Nike face similar lawsuits.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Kirsten Donovan