This past February, Donald Trump’s tariffs were ruled illegal by the US Supreme Court. He pushed to increase them to 15% after the decision did not go in his favor. Nintendo, which faced scrutiny over the rising price hikes on the Switch 2 and its other games, has filed a lawsuit alongside 24 states.
How Nintendo is Suing the White House
On Mar. 5, the Trump administration received more than two dozen state filings seeking to sue over import taxes. The president imposed them as a retaliation tactic that further sapped the US’s economic power. He attempted to persuade the land of the free that the 15% tariffs are necessary to reduce their longstanding deficits, while the reality has resulted in 92,000 job losses, soaring gas prices, and the declaration of an unnecessary war against Iran.
One of the leading video game companies that has suffered from tariffs since Trump’s re-election is Nintendo. His emergency powers affected Switch 2’s exclusives, pricing physical copies at $80. This worsened their sales over time with the addition of a $449 console expense and resulted in a loss of 35% holiday sales.
More challenges arose for Nintendo and its competitors as AI data centers demanded more RAM. The Verge reported that computer components, cell phones, and game consoles are expected to experience price jumps between 13%-41% due to low supply.
After enduring the damages, Nintendo of America joined the 24 states in suing the Trump administration. The president imposed 15% tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, affecting 1,000 companies, including Costco and FedEx. The Super Mario producer is requesting a tariff refund for over $200 billion on imports from nearly every country.
According to Aftermath, the company’s lawyers are following up on the case request from Feb. 1, 2025: “[Nintendo of America] has standing to sue because it is the importer of records for goods that were subject to IEEPA Duties.”
This is because the Big N’s main Switch 2 manufacturers are located in China and Vietnam. Vietnam was almost threatened with a 40% tariff rise, but negotiated it down to 20%. As for China, the Asian nation was repeatedly hit with multiple tariffs during negotiations for the TikTok purchase with ByteDance.
Lawsuit Status
Nintendo is targeting several agencies and individuals under the Trump administration, including the soon-to-be former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The United States and the world are enduring the 15% tariffs for 150 days, under Section 122. While they aren’t permanent, the import taxes have already dealt major damage to the economy.
White House in Trouble for Pokémon Political Meme
The Trump administration sank deeper into trouble with Nintendo after they posted a meme over on social media referencing the latest Pokémon spinoff, Pokepia. Compost shared an image of the edit on Instagram, where the game’s title was replaced with “Make America Great Again.”
The Pokémon Company firmly responded to the White House’s use of their intellectual property. The team said, “[No permission was granted]. Our mission is to bring the world together, and that mission is not affiliated with any political viewpoint or agenda.”
Another political post featured the series’ electric mouse mascot, Pikachu, with the same motto. Pokémon Company International immediately replied after the post was published. “We were not involved on it creation or distribution, and no permission was granted for the use of intellectual property,” said spokeswoman Sravanthi Dev.
The BBC contacted the White House for its thoughts on the matter and suggested that the company has a political bias against the administration. Currently, there are no known plans for a lawsuit over the misuse of IPs for propaganda purposes, despite a previous incident involving ICE last year. The organization used the iconic Pokémon catchphrase “Gotta catch’em all” to promote immigration control.
