tariffs

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As we have previously noted (most recently, here), geopolitical issues represent an increasingly important source of D&O risk. A lawsuit filed late last week against the fuel cell and power generation firm Bloom Energy highlights this developing source of risk. In the new complaint, a plaintiff shareholder alleges that the company understated its supply chain exposure to China and understated the extent of its reliance on China for a specific rare earth element, scandium. The company’s share price declined after a short seller’s media outlet published a report claiming that the company was, in fact, reliant on Chinese scandium. A copy of the new complaint against Bloom Energy can be found here.

Continue Reading Geopolitical Issues Lead to Securities Suit Against Fuel Cell Company

The fourth episode of The D&O Diary Podcast Series, discussing the D&O liability and insurance implications of the current Trump administration’s tariff policies, is now live.

The D&O Diary has closely followed the rapidly evolving tariff environment and the growing range of litigation and liability issues arising from it. Building on our prior posts examining tariff-related securities litigation, refund litigation, and emerging corporate disclosure challenges, we discuss in this latest episode how tariffs have become a D&O risk for both public and private companies.

Continue Reading The D&O Diary Podcast Series – Episode 4: Tariffs, Geopolitics, and D&O Risk
Evan Bundschuh
Burkhard Fassbach

In the following guest post, Evan Bundschuh and Burkhard Fassbach share and analyze their research into the geopolitics-related Form 10-K disclosures of 26 large-cap U.S.-listed public companies, as well as 52 small-cap and mid-cap companies, in order to assess the level and significance of public companies’ disclosure statements pertaining to geopolitics. Evan is Vice President at GB&A, a retail insurance brokerage in New York, and Burkhard is a D&O lawyer in private practice in Germany. My thanks to Evan and Burkhard for allowing us to publish their article on this site. Here is their article.

Continue Reading Guest Post: Geopolitical Risk Mapping in the 2025 Filing Season

The current Trump administration’s tariff policies have created operating challenges for many companies, challenges that in at least some cases have translated into securities class action lawsuits. In the latest example, the solar panel company First Solar has been hit with a tariff-related securities class action lawsuit after the company experienced complications in its international operations due to the tariffs. A copy of the new First Solar securities class action lawsuit can be found here.

Continue Reading Solar Panel Company Hit with Tariff-Related Securities Suit

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), litigation risk has entered a new phase. As previously noted on The D&O Diary, early lawsuits seeking recovery focused on companies that passed tariff costs on to consumers. A newly filed class action against Sony Interactive Entertainment suggests a second wave may now be emerging; one targeting companies for allegedly pursuing a “double recovery” by retaining both higher consumer prices and government tariff refunds.

Continue Reading A Second Wave of Tariff Recovery Litigation and Expanding D&O Risk

In the months since the current Trump administration first announced the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs, some companies have struggled to deal with the tariffs’ economic impacts, and in at least some cases, companies’ tariff-related problems have led to securities class action litigation (as discussed, most recently, for example, here). In the latest example of this phenomenon, earlier this week the social media company Pinterest was hit with a securities suit after the company announced that tariff-related headwinds had caused its business partners to cut back on advertising on the company’s site. A copy of the March 30, 2026, Pinterest complaint can be found here.

Continue Reading Tariff-Related Securities Suit Hits Social Media Platform Pinterest

In the wake of the February 20, 2026, U.S. Supreme Court decision to invalidate tariffs imposed under the current Administration’s use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), litigation has been filed by companies seeking tariff refunds and by shareholders alleging securities violations against a company whose operations and financial results were impaired by “tariff headwinds.”   A new category of litigation is also beginning to appear: consumer class actions alleging that companies improperly passed tariff costs on to customers.

Continue Reading Tariff Pass-Through Litigation Expands

In the immediate aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that President Trump lacked authority to impose tariffs under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), the President defiantly issued an Executive Order imposing new global 10% tariffs (later raised to 15%) in reliance on the Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. No President previously has used Section 122 to impose tariffs. Now a coalition of 24 states’ Attorneys General and Governors has filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of International Trade against the President and certain of administration officials challenging the President’s Section 122 tariffs. The plaintiffs argue that the circumstances under which the President has authority under Section 122 to impose tariffs not only does not exist now, but has not existed for over 50 years following changes in the global monetary exchange system in the 1970s. The likelihood is that the President will have to find yet another basis on which he can impose tariffs – which he seems likely to continue to try to do.

Continue Reading State AGs Challenge President’s Trump’s Section 122 Tariffs

While there have been dramatic developments in recent days related to the Trump administration’s tariff-policies – including the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the administration’s IEEPA tariffs and the Trump administration announcement of new across-the-board Section 122 tariffs – the uncertainty companies have faced related to the tariffs continues, and indeed may even have been exacerbated. A new securities suit filed earlier this week against Lakeland Industries, a company whose operations and financial results were impaired by “tariff headwinds,” illustrates how the continuing tariff uncertainty may translate into corporate and securities litigation in the weeks and months ahead. A copy of the February 23, 2026, Lakeland Industries complaint can be found here.

Continue Reading Protective Clothing Company Hit with Tariff-Related Securities Suit
Sarah Abrams

Following the Supreme Court’s recent decision striking down President Trump’s IEEPA tariffs, many companies will now have to consider whether and how they might seek a refund. Indeed, the first of what undoubtedy will be many refund actions has already been filed. In the following guest post, Sarah Abrams examines the refund-related questions corporate executives now face, and considers the D&O risks involved. My thanks to Sarah for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. Here is Sarah’s article.

Continue Reading Guest Post: Tariff Whiplash, Refund Strategy, and D&O Risk