Nintendo is just one of many companies that has been claiming refunds on the tariffs it was forced to pay on goods entering the United States from August 2025, but says it doesn’t have to, and won’t, pass these onto customers.
In August 2025, Nintendo increased the price of the original Switch console in accordance with ongoing tariffs at the time. These were deemed illegal but a US court in February 2026, with Nintendo suing the US government in an attempt to get their tariffs (and associated interest) refunded. A class action lawsuit, filed in April 2026 on behalf of Nintendo consumers, argued that Nintendo had an obligation to refund customers who purchases products at the inflated price.
Nintendo, in the latest reply to the lawsuit, argues against that logic, saying that customers were never forced to make a purchase in the first place. The documents, highlighted by Game File, also show that Nintendo is attempting to have the case dismissed.
“Nintendo or one of its retailers set a price for each product, and consumers decided whether that price was worth paying,” the new filing reads. “Those who bought Nintendo’s products received exactly what they bargained and paid for: a console, game and/or accessory at a price to which both parties agreed.”
Nintendo argues that it also didn’t raise the price of all of its products, implying that it didn’t completely benefit from passing on some tarrif costs to customers.
“Instead, Nintendo imposed modest and selective price adjustments, and it chose to bear the costs of tariffs on some of its most popular products of 2025, including its flagship console, the Nintendo Switch 2,” the filing continued.
Nintendo closes its opposition by stating that consumers have always been free to seek out alternatives if they deemed its price increases to be too extreme. “If a consumer did not want to pay the advertised price, they were free to abstain from purchasing the product or seek out competing products,” the filing concluded.
It’s unclear yet if the class action lawsuit will go to trial, but it’s evident Nintendo has no plans to refund anyone should it receive all of its tariff expenditure back. That might help it weather the ongoing memory crisis for a little longer, perhaps avoiding another Switch 2 price hike that is scheduled for later this year.
