Nintendo is suing the U.S. government for every penny it paid in Trump's tariffs — plus interest. And it's not the only company in line

The filing has strong legal footing. On Feb. 20, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose tariffs via IEEPA, rendering those duties unlawful. Nintendo's lawyers cited the government's own prior concessions to drive the point home. During the earlier V.O.S. Selections v. Trump proceedings, the government acknowledged on the record that it would not contest the court's authority to order refunds if IEEPA tariffs were found unlawful (2).

The Switch 2 Saga

Nintendo's Switch 2 launch year collided head-on with trade policy chaos. When Trump announced sweeping tariff hikes during his "Liberation Day" event in early April 2025, Nintendo took the unprecedented step of delaying its U.S. pre-order window. Nintendo said in a statement: "Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions."

China faced a combined 54% tariff rate at the time — the result of an existing 20% levy plus a new 34% reciprocal tariff — and Beijing retaliated with a 34% tariff on U.S. goods, sending markets tumbling. Nintendo managed to keep the Switch 2's launch price intact by strategically routing U.S.-bound consoles through its Vietnam manufacturing operations, which carried a significantly lower tariff rate, according to Bloomberg. But the accessories weren't so lucky: the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller, Joy-Con 2 Pair, Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip and several other peripherals all saw price increases (3).

Now, Nintendo argues the company "suffered injury" as a result of those tariff-driven costs and that it "will suffer imminent and irreparable harm" unless the government makes it whole.

The Bigger Picture

Nintendo isn't alone in this fight. As of early March, more than 1,000 companies have filed similar lawsuits in the U.S. Court of International Trade. The roster reads like a shopping mall directory: Costco, FedEx, L'Oréal, Dyson, Revlon, Bausch & Lomb and CVS have all filed complaints seeking refunds on tariffs they say were illegally collected (4, 5).

According to Nintendo's complaint, the tariffs have resulted in the collection of more than $200 billion in duties on imports from nearly all countries since February 2025. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection disclosed in a court filing that it collected approximately $166 billion in IEEPA tariffs specifically, spanning more than 330,000 importers and over 53 million entries.

Judge Richard Eaton, who has been designated to oversee the roughly 2,000 tariff refund lawsuits filed in the trade court, ruled on March 5 that companies are entitled to refunds. But there's a significant catch.

CBP acknowledged in a subsequent filing that it is "not able to comply" with the refund orders immediately. The agency says its current IT infrastructure cannot handle the volume of refunds being demanded. In a declaration filed with the court, CBP official Brandon Lord indicated the agency would need approximately 45 days to build out a new electronic process through its Automated Commercial Environment system to begin processing repayments (4).

That means Nintendo and the thousands of other companies in line may have to wait well into the spring before seeing any money returned. The silver lining, at least for Nintendo, is that the longer the government takes to pay up, the more interest accrues on the balance owed.

More than two dozen U.S. states have also joined the broader legal battle, many targeting a separate proposed 15% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — the replacement authority Trump turned to after the Supreme Court struck down his IEEPA tariffs. That measure allows the president to impose tariffs of up to 15% for a maximum of 150 days to address trade deficits, but its legality is already being challenged in court.

What It Means for Consumers

The financial burden of the tariff saga extended well beyond corporate balance sheets. According to research from the Tax Foundation, Trump's tariffs amounted to an average tax increase of $1,000 per U.S. household in 2025, a figure projected to rise to $1,300 per household in 2026 if the IEEPA tariffs remained in place. The Yale Budget Lab reached similar conclusions, estimating that consumers faced $1,300 to $1,700 in additional costs compared with pre-2025 levels (6).

Nintendo's peripheral price hikes during the Switch 2 launch were a direct illustration of how those costs reached consumers. If the company does receive a substantial refund, it remains unclear whether those savings would be passed back to shoppers. Companies like FedEx have signalled they will issue tariff refunds to consumers (dependent on their own refund), but have said they will be unable to do so until the courts and regulators clarify next steps. The lawsuit underscores the broader damage the tariff saga inflicted on both businesses and consumers.