- Gamers are suing Nintendo over tariff refunds
- Nintendo is currently suing the US government to get its tariffs returned
- A second lawsuit wants to return those funds to the consumers who paid them
Following the US Supreme Court’s ruling that US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs were unlawful, many companies have started legal action against the government to get their tariff fees back. This includes Nintendo, but if gamers have their way the money will flow all the way back to its customers rather than Mario’s pockets.
Spotted by Game FIle, two Nintendo fans — Gregory Hoffert and Prashant Sharan — have filed a class action lawsuit claiming that any money recovered by Nintendo from the US government should be returned to customers like them who bought tariff-inflated Nintendo goods. Otherwise Nintendo’s tariff refund would constitute unjust enrichment in violation of Washington state consumer protection rules — the state where the class action is being filed.
The suit is being filed on behalf of US Nintendo customers who purchased a tariff-affected Nintendo product between February 1, 2025 and February 24, 2026. This would seemingly include various Nintendo accessories and the original Nintendo Switch which saw price-hikes in that time seemingly in response to US tariffs.
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The class action also highlights comments from President of Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa, who in a May 2025 investor call said, “Our basic policy is that for any country or region, if tariffs are imposed, we recognize them as a part of the cost and incorporate them into the price,” in response to a question about tariffs.
Not a simple calculation
Nintendo has yet to comment on the legal action, nor has it said if it would return the recovered funds to customers when asked about this in the past, and legal experts have started to weigh in saying this lawsuit is unlikely to succeed. Some companies — such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL — have agreed to refund tariffs to customers, and perhaps Nintendo will do the same (especially if it feels public pressure off the back of this lawsuit).
The situation isn’t cut and dry, however. First, companies might not have passed on 100% of tariff costs to consumers, and tariff costs aren’t simple to quantify — for example companies might have taken on debt to pay duties and had to pay back interest on their loan.
That is to say, 100% of the money refunded to companies might not be owed to consumers. As such issuing precise refunds would be a major challenge, causing headaches that most companies might not want to deal with.
Now, if consumers have been asked to bear some of the brunt of tariffs, which have since been repealed, they should be reimbursed even if it is a challenge to determine precisely what they’re owed. That seems like the right thing to do, especially if the company is getting a refund from the government.
That said, I wouldn’t be holding my breath if I were you. Unless legal action or public pressure succeeds, I don’t think many companies will be handing out refunds directly. And, as I’ve warned before, be on the lookout for tariff refund scams. Especially as there is so much confusion around the situation, I wouldn’t be surprised if bad actors try to take advantage of it.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
