Remember when Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders were delayed last year due to President Trump’s tariffs? Nintendo sure does.
As first noticed by gaming news outlet Aftermath, Nintendo filed a lawsuit today against the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of International Trade.
Now that the Supreme Court has struck down Trump’s tariffs, Nintendo wants a refund, with interest. That’s not an expression, either; the suit asks the court to order the prompt refund of the “unlawful” tariff fees with interest and attorney fees.
Nintendo’s lawsuit is a direct response to the Supreme Court’s decision last month, which struck down Trump’s signature tariffs, invoked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA). Nintendo is one of more than 1,000 companies, including FedEx and Costco, now suing over the tariffs.
Gamers will likely remember that Trump’s tariffs hit just as Nintendo was readying the launch of its new Switch 2 video game console last year. Due to the uncertainty around the tariffs at the time, Nintendo delayed pre-orders for Switch 2.
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At the time, Nintendo, Microsoft, and other companies forced to raise prices or delay shipments often euphemistically blamed “evolving market conditions” rather than calling out Trump and the tariffs by name. But now that the Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, the companies are done being coy.
“[Nintendo] has been substantially harmed by the unlawful execution and imposition of the unauthorized Executive Orders and corresponding payment of the IEEPA Duties,” the suit states. Nintendo is asking the court to order “the prompt refund, with interest, of any IEEPA duties paid by [Nintendo] regardless of liquidation status, and provide any and all remedies that the Court deems appropriate.”
Technically, Nintendo is suing not just the Trump administration but the United States of America itself, which is explicitly named as a defendant in the suit, Nintendo of America Inc. v. United States of America. The suit also names a number of Trump administration officials (including the recently fired Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem) as well as the U.S. Customs & Border Protection, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Nintendo eventually launched the Switch 2 on its originally scheduled release date, and with its $449.99 price unchanged. However, many Switch 2 accessories had their prices raised as a result of the tariffs.
Trump’s tariffs hit the tech industry hard overall, with companies hiking prices of products like laptops and gaming accessories. As Mashable reported at the time, large companies like Nintendo faced tariff bills that exceeded $1 billion per quarter. Now, many are demanding refunds.
Shortly after last month’s Supreme Court ruling, Trump announced a new 10 percent global tariff rate and has threatened to raise it further to 15 percent.
As for the tariff refunds, the court will eventually determine if they will get reimbursed. However, one thing seems certain. Consumers who had the cost of Trump’s tariffs passed on to them through price hikes won’t be seeing any of that money returned.
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