Coverage spread: 2 sources — 1 left · 1 international
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Both outlets confirm the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump’s IEEPA-based tariffs were illegal, prompting refunds.
- Both note the Trump administration has refunded roughly $100bn of about $165-166bn originally collected.
- Both report Nintendo’s profit rose sharply (53.5% to ¥147.4bn) even as overall revenue fell, with the tariff refund as the key driver.
- Both mention new tariffs Trump imposed on dozens of countries last month and the resulting lawsuit from 25 US states.
Where they differ
- The Guardian centers the story on Nintendo specifically, detailing its Switch 2 sales, stock price reaction, and the consumer class-action lawsuit over pricing.
- Al Jazeera focuses on the broader US legal and policy picture, citing the CBP court filing and official Brandon Lord’s statement on refund disbursement, without discussing Nintendo at all.
- The Guardian frames the states’ lawsuit as potentially opening a new refund avenue for companies like Nintendo, while Al Jazeera frames it as a challenge to what plaintiffs call a pretext to reimpose struck-down tariffs.
- Only The Guardian mentions Nintendo’s own lawsuit demanding a full refund with interest and the company’s legal defense against customers.
Nintendo’s quarterly profit surged 53.5% to ¥147.4bn ($694m/£694m) for the three months through June, far outpacing analyst forecasts of ¥77.8bn, largely because the Japanese gaming company received a refund tied to US tariffs that the Supreme Court had ruled illegal. The refund came even as Nintendo’s overall revenue fell 10% to ¥517.8bn, showing the tariff money—not underlying sales—drove the profit spike.
Why did Nintendo get a tariff refund?
The US Supreme Court ruled in February, by a 6-3 vote, that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose his “Liberation Day” tariffs on dozens of countries, including broad “reciprocal” tariffs on more than 90 countries and fentanyl-related tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China. The ruling did not touch tariffs imposed under a separate law, the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, so duties on steel, automobiles and copper remain in place. Following the decision, the US Court of International Trade ordered in March that companies hit by the invalidated tariffs be refunded. Nintendo, which had filed its own lawsuit seeking a full refund plus interest, appears to have received money back as a result, though it has not disclosed the exact amount.
How much money has the US government actually refunded?
According to a Tuesday court filing by US Customs and Border Protection, cited by Al Jazeera, the government has refunded roughly $100bn of the $166bn it originally collected under the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down—more than three-quarters of the $128.68bn in revenue certified for refunds. CBP official Brandon Lord said the agency’s accounting system shows Treasury is “regularly” disbursing the certified refunds. Nintendo has not said how large a share of that pool it received.
What is Nintendo saying about its underlying business?
Beyond the refund, Nintendo said its Switch 2 console, released last summer, kept up strong sales momentum, and titles including Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Star Fox, and Pokémon Pokopia performed steadily. Even so, none of that offset the broader 10% revenue decline for the quarter. Nintendo’s Tokyo-listed shares rose 2.87% after the earnings were released.
Is Nintendo facing pressure over how it used the tariff money?
Yes. Nintendo is fighting a class-action lawsuit filed last month on behalf of customers who allege the company raised prices to cover the tariffs and then pocketed the refunds rather than passing savings back to buyers. Nintendo’s lawyers have called the suit “meritless,” arguing that customers paid for and received the products they wanted at the price charged. The company has stopped short of confirming the refund’s total size at a moment when it is under public pressure over the issue.
What happens next with tariffs on Nintendo and other companies?
Trump has continued imposing tariffs since the Supreme Court ruling. Last month his administration rolled out new levies of 10-12.5% on imports from more than 80 countries, including Japan, citing insufficient action on forced labor. In response, a coalition of 25 US states—including New York, California, Arizona and Colorado—sued the administration on Monday, arguing the new tariffs are a pretext to reimpose the duties the courts already struck down. If that challenge succeeds, it could open the door to another round of refunds for companies like Nintendo that rely heavily on imported hardware.
Why this matters beyond one company’s earnings
Nintendo’s results offer a concrete look at the financial fallout from Trump’s tariff policy being unwound in court. The episode shows how a major trade policy reversal can directly reshape a global company’s bottom line, while also raising questions—still unresolved—about whether consumers who paid higher prices during the tariff period will ever see any benefit from the refunds now flowing to corporations.
Sources
Featured photo: Evan-Amos via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)