Dutch brewing giant Heineken has started a court case against the US government over too-high import tariffs, financial director Harold van den Broek told company shareholders at Thursday’s AGM.

Heineken, he was quoted as saying by the NRC, has paid “tens of millions of euros too much” to import raw materials and finished products into the US.

US president Donald Trump introduced import tariffs over a wide range of goods last year but the supreme court ruled in February that Trump was wrong to use legislation from 1977 as a justification, opening the door to legal action.

The New York Times said on Monday that the US administration had reserved $166 billion to pay back excessive tariffs and has launched a special website for companies to file their claims.

The paper also said more than 3,000 businesses had already sued the Trump administration in a bid to secure their refunds before the application website launched, with some cases filed even predating the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Heineken, which described its sales in the US in the first three months of this year as “solid” also said on Thursday that it confirmed its 2026 guidance, including a 2% to 6% organic growth in operating profit.