Lenovo, Nintendo sue US government seeking tariff refunds
- Reference: 1773036743
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/09/lenovo_nintendo_sue_us_government/
- Source link:
The Register on Monday noticed reports about Nintendo of America last week filing a [1]complaint [PDF] that points out the February 20th Supreme Court [2]opinion [PDF] in the case of Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump found that the administration was not able to use the the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to levy tariffs. That decision leaves open the possibility that the government may have to refund the importers who paid tariffs.
We’ve since searched for case filings in the United States Court of International Trade, the venue for tariff-related matters, and found several tech companies seeking refunds of tariffs the Supreme Court Found illegal.
[3]
Lenovo’s [4]complaint [PDF] is dated February 20th – the day of the Supreme Court decision – but relies on rulings of lower courts.
[5]
[6]
The other filings we’ve found landed after the Supremes ruled out the administration’s use of IEEPA to impose tariffs, and come from designer vacuum cleaner biz Dyson, fitness wearable outfit Whoop, home security camera company Wyze, and printer-ink-slinger Epson Portland Inc.
[7]US punishes China’s ‘dominance’ of legacy chips with zero percent tariffs
[8]US PC shipments hit the buffers as Trump’s tariffs take their toll
[9]Transatlantic chip war fizzles as EU and US framework confirms 15% tariff cap
[10]US lowers tariffs on major tech exporting nations - but buyers will still pay more
They’re all similar in that they point out the plaintiff is an importer, note the outcome of the Learning Resources case and that the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction does not cover ordering refunds. Plaintiffs therefore ask the United States Court of International Trade to rule that they’re due a refund, plus interest. Plaintiffs also seek costs.
None of the filings we’ve seen mention what the plaintiffs intend to do with any refunds. That’s a contentious issue as several increased prices or changed pricing schemes after the introduction of tariffs, meaning consumers paid more. Law firm Arnold & Potter last week [11]predicted a wave of consumer class actions – and noted a few are already in motion.
The firm describes the class actions as “untested and in their early stages” but also warns they have “sweeping implications on businesses across virtually every industry.”
[12]
“Any company that imposed tariff-related fees or increased prices in response to the now-invalidated IEEPA tariffs faces new, sprawling exposure that should be evaluated promptly.”
Grab some popcorn. Preferably domestically-produced popcorn, if you want to avoid legal complications.
The Trump administration has since re-introduced tariffs using other mechanisms, and vowed to continue doing so to prosecute its trade policy. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/03/09/pacer_nintendo_tariff_claim.pdf
[2] https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1287_4gcj.pdf
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aa6oUeI0TcvP7AoCm79_YQAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/03/09/pacer_lenovo_tariff_filing.pdf
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aa6oUeI0TcvP7AoCm79_YQAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aa6oUeI0TcvP7AoCm79_YQAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/24/us_china_chip_tariffs/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/09/us_pc_shipments_flat_trump_tarriffs/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/21/eu_us_15_percent_tariff_cap/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/01/recipricoal_tariff_changes/
[11] https://www.arnoldporter.com/en/perspectives/advisories/2026/03/the-next-wave-of-tariff-litigation
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aa6oUeI0TcvP7AoCm79_YQAAAII&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: The shitstorm is going to be awesome on this
"and Trump will never have to bear any of the cost"
We can always hope although I'm sure the minute he steps down he'll be found unfit to plead.
The money is gone, the end result of this and the other various moronic ventures (including Bonespurs' war in Iran) will be more expense passed on to the average US citizen, along with the rising cost of fuel, food and pretty much every other daily expense, hopefully the democrats can make it plain that Trump and the lickspittle GOP are squarely to blame for this.
"... hopefully the democrats can make it plain that Trump and the lickspittle GOP are squarely to blame for this."
I'm sure they can make the case quite plainly, but the red part of America wont listen. Or more to the point will continue not to listen. Farmers who have seen their markets tank, and have got nothing but lip service from Trump, still support him despite the fact it's killing their livelihoods. All because of some nebulous concept of "it will be better in the future..."
Americans have become so suicidally tribal in nature when it comes to politics. It's worse than the most rabid sporting derby. If your a republican voter, you vote republican no matter if you disagree with them or not, because those democrats are worse (citation needed, but never provided). Or the other way around. At best (which is actually the worst for a democracy), the supporters of one side might choose not to vote at all. But they will never vote for the "other" party or even try out a third party or independent.
Until that tribal nature disappears, you're not going to see massive improvements in American democracy.
(Although saying that, there are some signs that certain demographics are becoming less tribal, and are now voting en masse based on specific issues, primarily the economy and how it's hurting them personally. So maybe there are signs of hope...)
I'm sure they can make the case quite plainly, but the red part of America wont listen.
[1]They probably already have someone to blame for it.
[1] https://www.dailykos.com/story/2026/3/7/2371823/-Cartoon-Biden-strikes-again
They probably already have someone to blame for it.
Easy. Blame Biden.
I work on occasion with another service engineer based in Florida.
He's a pretty bright guy who isn't afraid of hard work, family man doing the best for his son. Generally a very likeable sort, we get on well and carefully step around politics!
Only once did it ever come up in conversation. His view of the administration late last year was "Yeah, Trump is a successful guy. That means he's smart enough to figure out the mess the federal government has been in for over 10 years. Politicians are all as bad as each other so that's why he's got Elon on board. Yes, he's a dick, but if you're that rich you must know what you're doing."
I'm not sure where he got his info from but if that's the sort of stuff people want to believe (twice) then I can't necessarily see minds changing easily.
That may as well end with a "what if he wants to be king?" justification.
so this would be every American wholesaler company who imported products to the USA jumping on this sue the government thing...
Not just a couple of big name Chinese/Japanese manufacturers who didn't pay a cent. (who also happen to have importing arms in America, who did pay them)
Citation required
What is the relavence of the country of origin?
it was clearly both an illegal action and a blag job by Trump on all importers and his voters who were clearly the ones picking up the tab?
Didn't these companies already raise prices to cover the cost of the tariffs? And now (potentially) they're getting that paid back, but I guess there'll be no attempt to pass that money back to their customers who originally paid it.
Almost certainly, and I reckon they are missing a trick. If they advertised the fact that they were lowering prices they might get more custom
These importers paid the illegally gathered tax, the customer paid the importers an artificially inflated price. The importer is not out of pocket in this situation.
The importer sued the government and (presumably) got the tax refunded. Either a) the importer pays the customer a refund with interest or b) the customer sues the importer for unjust enrichment.
Decades worth of popcorn needed for this one. A good time to be a lawyer, too. This is the best quality government money can buy.
Nintendo and Lenovo
I'm sure they'll both end up refunding distributors who will go on to refund to retailers who will then go on to refund customers...
Do they need to sue ?
Didn't the judge the administration whined to about needing time tell then to STFU and said the refunds could be dealt with by the companies deducting them from their next tax bill. With a little extra for the effort ?
The shitstorm is going to be awesome on this
The only unforunate element is that it's going to take years and Trump will never have to bear any of the cost, plus the President who will have to deal with the fallout will likely never have had anything to do with the whole issue.
But Porsche is already asking ChatGPT to give an estimate on how many new models it is going to sell to lawyers in the coming years, so it's not all bad.