Nintendo sues the US government over "unlawful" Trump-era tariffs

[Daniel Sims]

A hot potato: Nintendo's legal team has become notorious over the years for aggressively pursuing modders and software pirates. This week, the console maker filed a claim against a much bigger target – the US government – joining many other entities in demanding nearly $200 billion in refunds after the Supreme Court declared the Trump administration's 2025 "Liberation Day" tariffs unlawful.

The claim, obtained by Aftermath, recounts how President Donald Trump raised historically high import tariffs last year and how the Supreme Court struck them down last month. Per the court's decision, Nintendo is demanding an unspecified sum in refunds, plus interest.

Trump imposed tariffs exceeding 25% on countries including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, and China last April in an attempt to strengthen US manufacturing. Over the following months, the duties shifted chaotically, with anti-China tariffs at times exceeding 100%.

Hardware manufacturers, whose supply chains depend heavily on international trade and manufacturing in Asian countries, were hit particularly hard.

Although Nintendo claimed that the "Liberation Day" tariffs did not impact the Switch 2 handheld console's $450 launch price, and the company had shifted manufacturing from China to Vietnam during the first Trump administration, it delayed pre-orders for the device from April 9 to April 24 before launching the Switch 2 on June 5. Nintendo also released a Japan-only version of the handheld that is over $100 cheaper.

The Supreme Court struck down the tariffs last month, ruling that the president had overstepped his authority. Trump issued the duties through a novel interpretation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which empowers the president to regulate imports in response to emergencies.

However, the IEEPA does not mention tariffs, and no previous president had used it to impose tariffs, let alone tariffs of last year's magnitude. The court ruled that Trump could not enact such "extraordinary" duties without congressional approval, which he did not have.

In response, Trump immediately imposed a global 10% tariff through Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, later threatening to raise it to 15%. Two dozen state attorneys general sued to block the new duties this week.

Moreover, Customs and Border Protection told a US Court of International Trade judge this week that its computer systems and staff lack the capacity to process the roughly $166 billion in government-owed tariff refunds.

In a filing acquired by CNBC, CBP stated that it aims to upgrade its equipment to handle roughly 53 million tariff incidents from 330,000 importers within 45 days.

Permalink to story:

Nintendo sues the US government over "unlawful" Trump-era tariffs

 

[Neatfeatguy]

They won't see a penny.

Just like how they won't see a penny from me. Can't say that I like their products nor games for a long, long while now.

 

[m4a4]

Just another big company jumping on the "if tariffs are refunded, we want them too".

Otherwise, nothing to see here.

 

[yRaz]

I wish Nintendo would stop being such an asshat. I love their games but for frogs snacks, get your **** together. The Switch 1 didn't even have anti aliasing. I would have settles for 2x or even TAA, but none at all when most people have 4k TVs? I ended emulating BOTW just to make it playable. And the cloud saves issue? Enshittifying the user experience and then sueing people to keep it that way? Sorry Nintendo, I haven't picked up my switch in almost 5 years and I don't plan on buying another product from them. I know that Nintendo is always going to sell games and I'm barely a drop in the bucket, but I won't buy another Nintendo product and other people shouldnt, either.

 

[NumberNine]

I'm sure they'll somehow manage to find common ground in their shared goal of moving the wealth upwards.

 

[Xelions]

You gotta see the bigger picture here - the idea of the tariffs were SO fu#$ing dumb, and they still are! None of you US.a citizens wanna work sweatshirt or assembly jobs for minimum-a$$-wage.

If the big 'N' along with other companies can rally perhaps smaller businesses will join the club and get an extra pay check or 2 to help em out - We all know governments don't need more money just less spending

The whole reason a parliament-style system exists outside the president, eg. congress is so you don't get some d$ck aka Trump pulling sh#$ like he does. Consensus gotta be reached and agreed to - otherwise you be the fu#$ed.US.a ..and right now your country looking a$$-up-and-over-sideways!

 

[Hotdog1n]

Greedy companies want their money back.

 

[yRaz]

You gotta see the bigger picture here - the idea of the tariffs were SO fu#$ing dumb, and they still are! None of you US.a citizens wanna work sweatshirt or assembly jobs for minimum-a$$-wage.

If the big 'N' along with other companies can rally perhaps smaller businesses will join the club and get an extra pay check or 2 to help em out - We all know governments don't need more money just less spending

The whole reason a parliament-style system exists outside the president, eg. congress is so you don't get some d$ck aka Trump pulling sh#$ like he does. Consensus gotta be reached and agreed to - otherwise you be the fu#$ed.US.a ..and right now your country looking a$$-up-and-over-sideways!

The Dems let themselves be high jacked by the far left thinking it would get them more voters and disenfranchised their voter base in the process. People like me just stayed out of the last election. I didn't vote for Trump but I also wasn't voting for Harris. There are a lot of people who see the US election system as broken and chose to just stay out of it. The problem is that the game was rigged from the start and most people are exhausted knowing that it doesn't matter who you vote for, we're all still ****ed.

 

[trparky]

The Dems let themselves be high jacked by the far left thinking it would get them more voters and disenfranchised their voter base in the process.

Exactly. The Democrats really do need to police their own and stop listening to the fringe lunatics that are more than happy to drag the party straight off the cliff. Then again, the Republicans need to do the same with their MAGA-hat wearing crowd as well—cut them off and let them run off the cliff.

Better yet, we need a third political party where the sane adults can get sh*t done while the children bicker on either side.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

They won't see a penny.

Just like how they won't see a penny from me. Can't say that I like their products nor games for a long, long while now.

Greedy companies want their money back.

So Nintendo shouldn't get the money back that the Supreme Court ruled was illegally taken from them?

Do you not believe in the rule of law? Do laws only apply to companies you personally like?

 

[ScottSoapbox]

The only thing that will limit government overreach is if there is a downside to doing it.

I don't care if its Dems overreaching with covid restrictions or Reps overreaching with executive orders replacing congress making law - BOTH are BAD.

In this case, Trump made up a power not given him by the constitution or federal law and was not able to show it wasn't illegal before the Supreme Court.

Companies and US customers that were overcharged should get their money back. The fact that they are now claiming the money is gone and therefore we should just forget about it speaks to just how corrupt things have gotten.

 

[Jarenien]

Lol Nintendo, you have a better chance of winning a lawsuit that water is wet. All this is gonna do is hurt us, the consumers, as we'll be the ones to fit the bill when they lose.

 

[havok585]

"The Supreme Court struck down the tariffs last month, ruling that the president had overstepped his authority." more like they were bought and paid for. Tariffs have been used in the past (although not at the same level as today) because of the trade imbalance with other countries. Any economist worth his penny knows this stuff. Nothing new here.

 

[Kashim]

The Dems let themselves be high jacked by the far left thinking it would get them more voters and disenfranchised their voter base in the process. People like me just stayed out of the last election. I didn't vote for Trump but I also wasn't voting for Harris. There are a lot of people who see the US election system as broken and chose to just stay out of it. The problem is that the game was rigged from the start and most people are exhausted knowing that it doesn't matter who you vote for, we're all still ****ed.

Blah, blah, blah, I don't even need to read your comment to know what it says. It's always the same typical far right talking point nonsense that can be explained in two steps: if the Democrats win an election it's because they stole it. If the Republicans win an election it's because the Democrats screwed up/disenfranchised voters/became too woke/etc.

The point is that Democrats are always at fault no matter the outcome. Republicans never take responsibility for anything, and when they accuse the Democrats of doing something it actually means they themselves are doing it.

Example; as the upcoming midterm elections get closer you'll hear Republicans clamoring more and more about the Democrats trying steal the election. When in fact it's the Republicans who will try everything in their power to try and steal the upcoming election. Everything from voter intimidation, to make it harder to vote, to try and deploy the military/national guard, etc.

Republicans know they're getting wiped out this fall so they're already setting it up so that the blame is on the Democrats no matter what happens. If they lose (which they will) they will have already convinced all the brain dead MAGA lemmings that the election was stolen.

Tariffs, wars, inflation, etc. is all done by Trump, but if you watch Fox News then the blame is somehow on Democrats. Speaking of Fox News, I don't watch it, but I have to know... did that horse ever get her face back from Laura Ingram?

 

[Subset6]

Lawl, good ole Nindendo. Without getting political. These homies must have a warchest of over 500 million in retainers alone to justisty the sheer amount of litigation. It's clearly Nintendo's side hustle.

 

[yRaz]

Blah, blah, blah, I don't even need to read your comment to know what it says. It's always the same typical far right talking point nonsense that can be explained in two steps: if the Democrats win an election it's because they stole it. If the Republicans win an election it's because the Democrats screwed up/disenfranchised voters/became too woke/etc.

The point is that Democrats are always at fault no matter the outcome. Republicans never take responsibility for anything, and when they accuse the Democrats of doing something it actually means they themselves are doing it.

Example; as the upcoming midterm elections get closer you'll hear Republicans clamoring more and more about the Democrats trying steal the election. When in fact it's the Republicans who will try everything in their power to try and steal the upcoming election. Everything from voter intimidation, to make it harder to vote, to try and deploy the military/national guard, etc.

Republicans know they're getting wiped out this fall so they're already setting it up so that the blame is on the Democrats no matter what happens. If they lose (which they will) they will have already convinced all the brain dead MAGA lemmings that the election was stolen.

Tariffs, wars, inflation, etc. is all done by Trump, but if you watch Fox News then the blame is somehow on Democrats. Speaking of Fox News, I don't watch it, but I have to know... did that horse ever get her face back from Laura Ingram?

then why'd you read it?

 

[Starfals]

100% Hate Nintendo, they are one of the worst and most greedy companies... and yet...........

Even the idea of products costing more, and a president literally promising that.... is unheard of here. If any candidate even HINTS of taxes/tariffs or any higher prices (even by 1%, which is already big on top of the current taxes) they get booed so hard.... their ratings drop to like 0%.

You gotta be mental to do that. Yet Trump did, and got away with it and people even defend this lol. Defend more expensive items? Are you kidding me. Literally insane, and if anyone is doing that... well.. no wonder people pick him for a second time. My only hope is that they didnt understood what was going on. If they did? Ho boy. Nobody in their right mind wants any kind of increase in price. Even 1 extra dollar. Some stuff costs an extra 50-150 lol. The looney bin is calling, pick up the phone!

If I gotta pick the lesser evil, I do think Greedtendo is right to sue. People want an easier life, not a more pricy one. Its one thing to tarrif the hell out of China, another to do it GLOBALLY to everyone.

 

[Endymio]

If any candidate even HINTS of taxes/tariffs or any higher prices (even by 1%...they get booed so hard.... their ratings drop to like 0%.

You gotta be mental to do that.

Is that why Biden extended Trump's China tariffs, and even added several more? Why Biden doubled Trump's lumber tariffs on neighbor Canada? Why Biden enacted new 25% punitive tariffs on certain products from Italy, Turkey, and the UK? Why Biden added tariffs to all products from several African nations, when he removed them from the AGOA trade program? Why Biden extended the 25% Sec 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and updated the "Buy American" act to raise the domestic content percentage requirement?

What-- Huffpo forget to tell you all this? They also forgot that Trump's 2025 trade deals lowered effective tariffs on nations who agreed to do so reciprocally, such as the UK and Japan, or that his "global" tariffs exclude hundreds of thousands of products.

Every nation on earth uses tariffs to assist their economy and support local manufacturing. Every last one.

 

[torvuswalds]

Is that why Biden extended all of Trump's China tariffs, and even added several more? Why Biden doubled Trump's lumber tariffs on neighbor Canada? Why Biden enacted new 25% punitive tariffs on textile/apparel products from Italy, Turkey, and the UK? Why Biden effectively added tariffs to all products from several African nations, when he removed them from the AGOA trade preference program? Why Biden extended the 25% Sec 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum? Why Biden updated the "Buy American" act to raise the domestic content percentage requirement from 55% to 75%?

What-- Huffpo forget to tell you all this?

Yes, Biden kept most of the China tariffs that started under Trump, and even added a few targeted ones, but that’s because being tough on China became bipartisan, not because it’s the same policy across the board. The Canada lumber thing wasn’t some new Biden tariff either, that’s part of a trade dispute that’s been going on for decades under multiple presidents. I couldn’t find anything showing Biden slapped 25% tariffs on textiles from Italy, Turkey, or the UK, that one looks flat-out wrong. The AGOA claim is also misleading because those countries lost duty-free status due to coups or human-rights issues, which automatically puts normal tariffs back in place, not a new punishment tariff. The steel and aluminum tariffs were mostly kept but modified with quotas for allies, and the Buy American rule isn’t even a tariff, it just changes what the government is required to purchase domestically. Trade policy is messy and both parties use tariffs when it suits them, so acting like this is some gotcha that only proves one side right doesn’t really tell the whole story.

 

[Endymio]

I couldn’t find anything showing Biden slapped 25% tariffs on textiles from Italy, Turkey, or the UK, that one looks flat-out wrong.

It's not wrong. 301 Tariffs of 25% added to six nations on June 2, 2021 -- three were able to avoid them before they went into effect 180 days later:

USTR announces 25% punitive tariffs on six specific countries in response to their Digital Services Taxes; Suspends tariffs for 180 days

taxnews.ey.com

The AGOA claim is also misleading because those countries lost duty-free status due to coups or human-rights issues....

Ah, so you're fine with tariffs ... as long as they're to help people overseas, not the US itself?

The Canada lumber thing wasn’t some new Biden tariff either, that’s part of a trade dispute that’s been going on for decades

And Biden escalated that dispute by doubling tariffs.

The tariffs Trump added were also part of a trade dispute ongoing for decades - the fact that our trade partners tariff us much more than we tariff them.

... the Buy American rule isn’t even a tariff, it just changes what the government is required to purchase domestically.

It requires the government to purchase more expensive American products, at a net cost to the US taxpayer. Didn't you claim to hate tariffs because they cost the taxpayer money?

Trade policy is messy and both parties use tariffs when it suits them

Glad you agree!

 

[sks9988]

The worst part is that most of these companies passed the tariff costs on through directly to their customers. In turn, many of those companies will file these lawsuits and will profit from them if refunds are received, while the customers that ultimately paid the tariff costs will see nothing.

This may not be true of Nintendo, as I don't think they increased the cost of their products. However, it is true of many of these companies that are filing these lawsuits.

 

[GABulldog]

"The Supreme Court struck down the tariffs last month, ruling that the president had overstepped his authority." more like they were bought and paid for. Tariffs have been used in the past (although not at the same level as today) because of the trade imbalance with other countries. Any economist worth his penny knows this stuff. Nothing new here.

The Supreme Court didn't strike down the tariffs and they didn't rule on any refunds. The Supreme Court said that since tariffs are a tax, that president Trump couldn't use the Emergency Act to raise revenue. But the Supreme Court did say there is other ways Trump could raise tariffs which Congress allowed presidents to do and would survive court scrutiny.

President Trump can use section 122 and 301 of the trade act to increase tariffs. Section 122 allows the president to raise tariffs up to 15% across the board for 150 days which president Trump instituted right after the court ruling. Section 301 is used against countries for unfair trade practices.

 

[Axeia]

Is that why Biden extended Trump's China tariffs, and even added several more? Why Biden doubled Trump's lumber tariffs on neighbor Canada? Why Biden enacted new 25% punitive tariffs on certain products from Italy, Turkey, and the UK? Why Biden added tariffs to all products from several African nations, when he removed them from the AGOA trade program? Why Biden extended the 25% Sec 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and updated the "Buy American" act to raise the domestic content percentage requirement?

What-- Huffpo forget to tell you all this? They also forgot that Trump's 2025 trade deals lowered effective tariffs on nations who agreed to do so reciprocally, such as the UK and Japan, or that his "global" tariffs exclude hundreds of thousands of products.

Every nation on earth uses tariffs to assist their economy and support local manufacturing. Every last one.

That is how tariffs had been used up till this lunacy. Employ them strategically to protect certain industries or sectors of them.
The 'Trump' tariffs were literally based upon a system of a base tariff of 10% and some illogical formula based upon a trade deficit which made no sense in the first place (good luck selling Ford Lightnings to poverty stricken Cambodia). Tariffs aren't inherently a bad thing, I fully expect for example Germany to tariff Chinese car imports heavily to protect its own car industry. Car factories can after all start pushing out other (military) vehicles with few changes when needed and that's infrastructure a government would like to maintain.
I'd say it was pretty smart even of the current administration to strike some deals for Boeing as that's a company with immense national value... if it came with stronger regulations for Boeing. The way Boeing is (self-)regulated is ridiculous and there's zero incentive for them to change course. They'll need to be bailed out again at some point.

Now so many changes have been made since I can't keep track of it all. The rest of the worlds major (China, the EU, India) and minor (Canada, Australia etc) players struck new trade deals amongst each other reducing US reliance. Strengthened by a push to move away from the USD as the world currency BRICS surprisingly picked up steam, The Euro has become a more viable alternative, WERO development had sped up. All this because the tariffs were basically overplaying the US's hand and now it turns out there wasn't even a legal base for it and money has to be paid back (although I doubt even a smell percentage of it will). Not only has US trade taken a big hit, trust has been lost, alternatives have formed, steps are taken to not only move away from the US but the USD as well, resources (gold reserves, bonds) are being pulled.

This whole tariff war was the biggest self inflicted disaster I've seen a government make since Brexit. Well, maybe not - there's still Russia's "special military operation".

--

I do wonder how things will pan out from here. Japan has started selling off US treasury bonds and they're the second largest holder of them after the EU. Threatening allies with tariffs (everyone) and war (Greenland/Canada) might result in bigger things to worry about for the US economy than China.

 

[Endymio]

That is how tariffs had been used up till this lunacy. Employ them strategically to protect certain industries or sectors of them.

And that's how they're still being employed, which is why tariffs were higher on steel, aluminum, and other industries critical to national defense, whereas many other goods are exempt -- tens of thousands of goods have no tariffs applied, despite claims of the "global" nature of these tariffs.

The 'Trump' tariffs were literally based [on] some illogical formula based upon a trade deficit which made no sense in the first place (good luck selling Ford Lightnings to poverty stricken Cambodia).

Stop embarrassing yourself. The top export from the US to Cambodia, in fact, is automobiles, despite Cambodia charging up to a 35% tariff on those autos.

Since Trump began his tariffs, Cambodia has (in Dec 2025) agreed to drop those tariffs. Meaning the US will now sell more cars -- and all the other products we already sell -- to Cambodia, and the trade deficit will drop.

This whole tariff war was the biggest self inflicted disaster I've seen a government make since Brexit.

Now this is just silly. Despite claims of a "huge recession", the tariffs would cause, the US GDP grew last year. The stock market was up sharply, investment in US manufacturing was the highest in decades, and -- again countering claims of higher prices -- inflation was half of what it averaged over Biden's last three months in office.

Now so many changes have been made since I can't keep track of it all.

That's abundantly clear.

 

[Loadedaxe]

Blah, blah, blah, I don't even need to read your comment to know what it says. It's always the same typical far right talking point nonsense that can be explained in two steps: if the Democrats win an election it's because they stole it. If the Republicans win an election it's because the Democrats screwed up/disenfranchised voters/became too woke/etc.

The point is that Democrats are always at fault no matter the outcome. Republicans never take responsibility for anything, and when they accuse the Democrats of doing something it actually means they themselves are doing it.

Example; as the upcoming midterm elections get closer you'll hear Republicans clamoring more and more about the Democrats trying steal the election. When in fact it's the Republicans who will try everything in their power to try and steal the upcoming election. Everything from voter intimidation, to make it harder to vote, to try and deploy the military/national guard, etc.

Republicans know they're getting wiped out this fall so they're already setting it up so that the blame is on the Democrats no matter what happens. If they lose (which they will) they will have already convinced all the brain dead MAGA lemmings that the election was stolen.

Tariffs, wars, inflation, etc. is all done by Trump, but if you watch Fox News then the blame is somehow on Democrats. Speaking of Fox News, I don't watch it, but I have to know... did that horse ever get her face back from Laura Ingram?

As an independent, this kind of “one side is always evil and the other is always innocent” framing is exactly why politics is so toxic right now.

Both parties question election outcomes when it benefits them. Republicans did it after 2020, and Democrats spent years talking about Russian interference after 2016. Acting like only one side ever does this just isn’t honest.

Most Americans, including independents like me, just want elections that are fair, transparent, and trusted. That means claims of fraud or voter suppression should be backed by evidence, not assumptions about motives.

Also, calling millions of people “brain dead lemmings” doesn’t make an argument stronger. It just shuts down any chance of a real conversation.

OT:
Refunding the tariff they directly paid makes sense on goods not sold during the tariff.

Paying extra damages when consumers already covered the cost? That’s where it gets a lot harder to justify.