The United States wants to impose tariffs on consoles because they are made in China
It seems that Trump now has his sights set on the video game industry, wanting to impose tariffs on consoles, which are made in China.
The political situation between the United States and China is becoming very tense, extremely tense. The first US attack was to impose tariffs of 10% on electronics and technology imports. Later, these tariffs were raised to 25%. The second act was to ban Huawei , the second-largest smartphone manufacturer on the market, which has been undermining Apple. It seems the next target will be the video game industry, which has unwittingly found itself caught in the crossfire. The Office of the United States Trade Representative has published a proposed list of import tariffs. This list includes video game consoles.
The United States could impose tariffs on consoles
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony produce their consoles in China to lower costs. If these tariffs were imposed, console imports to the United States would be recorded at 25%, which buyers would end up paying. Currently the tax is 10%, something that is already noticeable. But it is that Trump's attacks on imports could end up making consoles and PCs, as well as other products, much more expensive. Logically the Entertainment Software Association has already shown its rejection of this tax.
An absurd situation if we take into account that the video game industry is one of the most important in the country. Currently the video game industry in China has a trade surplus. These impositions will end up harming the economy, industry and consumers, logically.
Trump already proposed these taxes at the end of last year, but so far no decisions have been made. Those proposals have been put on paper and could be made official in a month. It will be on June 17 when public hearings take place, shortly after E3 2019, the most important video game event in the world. Depending on how the discussions go, these tariffs could be established on June 24.
It should be noted that on June 28 Trump will meet in Japan with his Chinese namesake Xi Jinping. A vital summit for US-China relations. If these tariffs are approved before the summit, there may not even be a summit. China is currently very quiet about it, something that is worrying.
