U.S. parcel delivery firm FedEx Corp on Monday sued the U.S. government, seeking to enjoin the U.S. Department of Commerce from enforcing prohibitions contained in the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) against FedEx.

FedEx argued in a filing that it should not be held liable if it inadvertently shipped products that violated a Trump administration ban on exports to some restricted companies.

The move came after FedEx made another "operational error" – just before the first mishandled delivery happened a month ago subsided. FedEx's share went down 2.7 percent on Monday, as investors fear that China may add FedEx to the Chinese government's unreliable entity.

FedEx's suit and delivery error come against a backdrop of increasing tension between the world’s two biggest economies. The United States and China have been engaged in trade frictions for nearly a year on issues such as tariffs, subsidies, technology, regulations and cyber security.

The U.S. Commerce Department has banned a number of Chinese firms in recent weeks from purchasing U.S. technology, in the name of U.S. national security. 

'FedEx is a transportation company, not a law enforcement agency'

In court filings in the District of Columbia, FedEx said it should not be expected to enforce the export ban, and could not reasonably be held liable for shipping products that it did not know about.

FedEx said in a statement it believes that "the EAR, as currently constructed and implemented, place an unreasonable burden on FedEx to police the millions of shipments that transit our network every day. FedEx is a transportation company, not a law enforcement agency".

Export restriction rules "essentially deputize FedEx to police the contents of the millions of packages it ships daily even though doing so is a virtually impossible task, logistically, economically, and in many cases, legally," it said in a filing.

A U.S. Commerce Department spokesman responded that, "We have not yet reviewed the complaint, but nevertheless look forward to defending Commerce's role in protecting U.S. national security."

Recurring 'operational errors'

In responding FedEx's "operational errors", Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said on Regular Press Conference on June 24 that, "this is not the first time FedEx has made an "operational error" relating to Huawei… as a major multinational corporation, it should provide a reasonable explanation and take responsibility for its actions".

"The root cause of the chaos lies with the US government, who has been trumping up charges and abusing the label of national security to use state power in clamping down on a Chinese business. Its bullying practice not only hurts Chinese businesses, but also American ones. It is affecting their normal operation and cooperation. We urge it to stop and correct its wrong practice and create enabling conditions for the normal exchange and cooperation between companies," Geng added.

(With input from Reuters)