Alina Seljuk

Spending by state and local governments increased.

Alina Seljuk, NPR News, Washington.

iRobot was founded in 1990 by researchers from MIT, and its devices have been used by the military and scientists tracking oil spills.

But its claim to fame is the Roomba, the smart floor vacuum.

In recent years, the home robot market got very competitive with lots of foreign rivals, often at cheaper prices.

Last year, regulatory scrutiny killed iRobot's merger with Amazon.

Now it faces new tariffs for products.

They tend to come from Vietnam.

And iRobot has been losing money.

It owes nearly $100 million to its main supplier based in Shenzhen.

And that firm has agreed to take over iRobot, assuring that devices will keep operating as normal.

Alina Seljuk, NPR News.

President Trump's tariffs on nearly all imports are pending at the Supreme Court, where justices last month seemed skeptical about their legality during oral arguments.

Lower courts previously found that Trump set new rules by improperly using emergency economic power.

And dozens of companies have now filed lawsuits trying to secure tariff refunds in the event that the Supreme Court agrees.

That includes cosmetics company Revlon, canned foods maker Bumblebee, and now Costco.

Costco's filing with the U.S.

Court of International Trade does not say how much the retailer has paid in tariffs.

But earlier this year, executives said imported goods make up about a third of what Costco sells in the U.S.

Alina Seljuk, NPR News.