Nintendo customers seek share of 'enormous' tariff refunds in new class action lawsuit

The Trump administration has begun refunding approximately $166 billion in tariff revenue to over 330,000 importers after the Supreme Court ruled the levies were an unconstitutional overreach of executive authority. This process has prompted a wave of class action lawsuits, with gamers joining the fray. On Wednesday, Gregory Hoffert and Prashant Sharan filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on behalf of millions of consumers who purchased goods from Nintendo during the tariff period. The plaintiffs allege they paid inflated prices reflecting Nintendo's pass-through of unlawful tariffs, citing specific price increases for controllers and the "Switch 2 Dock Set" from $109.99 to $119.99. The company has not responded to a request for comment. The lawsuit addresses the core debate on Trump's trade strategy: who actually paid the tariffs? While Trump maintained foreign countries would "eat" the tariffs, legal filings proved otherwise. Nintendo of America filed its own complaint in the United States Court of International Trade seeking a refund with interest for the defunct IEEPA tariffs. Hoffert and Sharan referenced this complaint to justify their claim that they are entitled to a share of the refunds. The lawsuit states that Nintendo previously passed tariff-related cost increases to consumers, meaning the economic burden was borne by the plaintiffs and class members. This legal battle mirrors a nearly identical class action lawsuit filed against Costco last month, where the CEO stated a commitment to returning value to members through lower prices.

(Source：Baltimore News)