Nintendo is joining the hundreds of other companies that are suing the United States government over the "sweeping tariffs" put in place by the Trump administration in 2025. Nintendo's lawsuit, first spotted by Aftermath, was filed on March 6 with the U.S. Court of International Trade by Nintendo of America.
On February 20, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down those sweeping tariffs on imported goods, finding them to be "unconstitutional under the emergency powers law," and that Trump could not invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to put those tariffs in place. The Court said that Trump could not unilaterally set and change tariffs because taxation power belongs to Congress. Undeterred by the Court's ruling, Trump went on to vow that there will be new, 15% tariffs on imported goods as allowed under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974.
Already, more than two dozen states are suing the government over these new tariffs. These states are joined by over 1,000 companies that are also suing the U.S. government for an illegal implementation of these tariffs.
Nintendo's lawsuit, like many others, is seeking a full refund of the tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down. In their complaint, Nintendo of America lists the "U.S. Department of the Treasury and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent; U.S. Department of Homeland Security and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem; Office of the United States Trade Representative and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer; U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott; and the U.S. Department of Commerce and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick."
Nintendo's lawyers say that the trade measures are "unlawful" and have "resulted in the collection of more than $200 billion in tariffs on imports from nearly all countries."
On Wednesday, March 4, Judge Richard Eaton ruled that companies are entitled to refunds. However, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a separate filing that they cannot currently comply with the refund order because of IT woes. CBP states they do not yet have a system in place to automatically issue these refunds. They say they will have such a system operational within 45 days.
Since Feb. 1, 2025, lawyers write, Trump has implemented "unlawful" executive orders "imposing tariffs on imports from a vast swath of countries." The company is asking the court to refund "with interest" the tariffs it paid. "[Nintendo of America] has standing to sue because it is the importer of record for goods that were subject to IEEPA Duties," lawyers say. Nintendo manufactures its consoles and accessories overseas, mostly in Vietnam and China. The timing of the tariffs was particularly bad for Nintendo, which was gearing up to release its Nintendo Switch 2 console when they were announced. The company ended up delaying preorders for the anticipated console after the tariffs were announced.
