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Tech tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were ruled unconstitutional back in February, though the saga is far from over. Many companies have since sought refunds, and consumers battling rising hardware prices are wondering whether they’ll see those recouped costs trickle down. Well, as far as major players Microsoft and Sony are concerned, the answer is ‘No.’
To rewind a smidge, consoles have been climbing in price for some time now. An Xbox gamer filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Microsoft back in July, accusing the company of passing on the cost of tariffs to consumers. A similar lawsuit was filed against Sony back in May. Now, lawyers from both companies are arguing that their respective sides are simply under no obligation to pass on tariff refunds to customers.
As reported by Game File, Microsoft’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit last month, saying, “There is nothing unjust about Plaintiff purchasing an Xbox at an advertised price and getting exactly what he paid for—regardless of whatever theory he devised months later about Microsoft’s cost structure.”
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Sony’s lawyers reportedly filed their motion to dismiss on Monday, arguing, “Paying fair market price for voluntarily purchased consumer goods is not a legally cognizable injury in fact.”
Sony had previously estimated it would see $508 million in tariff refunds, with the company’s chief financial officer reportedly having since said that “most” of this would be recouped by the gaming division. The fact that consumers won’t directly see any of that feels unfair, but it is perhaps unsurprising.
Nintendo has also sought tariff refunds and similarly saw a consumer lawsuit filed against it back in April. PC Mag reported that Nintendo’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss in July. Their filing says, “Plaintiffs ask this Court to invent a legal duty out of whole cloth to retroactively re-price completed sales simply because the legal landscape has changed.”
Nintendo’s lawyers went on to add, “Taken to its logical extension, Plaintiffs’ theory would require every business that raises a price to recompute its prices and repay consumers if some pricing assumption proves mistaken.”
But not all hardware companies are following suit. For one thing, Arctic announced a price rollback after securing its refund, saying this will continue until “every single dollar Arctic received […] has been paid back to our customers.”
Panic, maker of the Playdate handheld, has taken a bolder stance, offering refunds to those who bought its console and were charged extra for its tariffs. Company co-founder Cabel Sasser said last month, “It’s just not our money to keep.”
If only more gaming and hardware companies agreed.
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