264
Opinion of the Court
tation is not applicable here, however, since presented in response to the carrier's suit petitioners' claims seek merely "recoupment"—i. e., the setting off against asserted liability of a counterclaim arising out of the same transaction. Recoupment claims are generally not barred by a statute of limitations so long as the main action is timely. See Bull v. United States, 295 U. S. 247, 262 (1935); 3 J. Moore, B. Ward, & J. Lucas, Moore's Federal Practice ¶ 13.11 (1992). There is no reason not to apply this principle to suits under the ICA, and we have indeed already done so. In United States v. Western Pacific R. Co., 352 U. S. 59, 71 (1956), we held that an ICA limitation provision nearly identical to the one at issue here did not prohibit the shipper (the United States) from asserting "by way of defense" unreasonable-rate claims against a carrier seeking to collect on previous shipments. Respondents seek to distinguish Western Pacific on the ground that the United States has a unique statutory setoff right (now codified at 31 U. S. C. § 3726), allowing it to deduct from amounts due to a carrier prior overcharges by the carrier. That statute may well have been essential to the holding in the case, since some of the amounts withheld by the United States were not recoupments (they related to shipments other than those that were the subjects of the carriers' suits). But the rationale of the case is the same as the rationale that permits recoupment here: "Only the clearest congressional language could force us to a result which would allow a carrier to recover unreasonable charges with impunity merely by waiting two years before filing suit." 352 U. S., at 71. See Glama Dress Co. v. Mid-South Transports, Inc., 335 I. C. C. 586, 589 (1969). Courts of Appeals have understood Western Pacific as expressing not just a narrow holding based on the United States setoff statute, but a general principle of recoupment applicable in other contexts. See Distribution Services, Ltd. v. Eddie Parker Interests, Inc., 897 F. 2d 811, 813 (CA5 1990); In re Smith, 737 F. 2d 1549, 1554 (CA11 1984); 118 East 60th Owners, Inc.
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