A Ford Mustang Mach-E owner is suing the Ford Motor Company in the US for a share of the estimated US$1.3 billion (A$1.86 billion) tariff rebate the carmaker is set to receive.

According to a report by US publication Car and Driver, the lawsuit comes following a decision by the US Supreme Court to declare President Trump’s sweeping import tariffs illegal. That ruling has resulted in the US federal government agreeing to repay import duties collected from car makers, including Ford.

Now a California man, Jason Bullock, has filed a class action lawsuit against Ford, claiming the car maker had inflated the price of his Mustang Mach-E to cover the additional costs of President Trump’s import tariffs.

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The lawsuit claims that Mexican made Mustang Mach-E models attracted tariffs, an increase in cost to the Blue Oval that was then passed on to the end customer.

However, the plaintiff is now alleging that since the government has agreed to repay the collected tariffs to the car maker, Ford now owes its customers money.

The lawsuit, filed in the Michigan federal court on July 9 reads: “If Ford retains the [tariff refunds] while also retaining the tariff-related price increases paid by consumers, Ford will receive a double recovery and unjust windfall.”

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Bullock’s class action suit is not the first filed against a major corporation over President Trump’s sweeping import tariffs with Nike, Costco and Amazon also facing court challenges from customers who believe they are owed partial refunds following the US Supreme Court’s ruling. None of those lawsuits, including the case against Ford, have yet made their way through the courts.

Whichever class action ends up first to face the judiciary will likely serve as a precedent, and depending on the outcome will potentially open – or close – the floodgates to similar lawsuits across the US.