An agreement from January 15 between President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He has resulted in cooling tensions between the countries and indefinitely halving the number of tariffs, one of which involves video game consoles. Now Gamesindustry.biz reports on how the video game industry will be affected.
The initial tariff would impose a 25% import tax on gaming consoles. According to numbers from Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, the total amount of units shipped to the US in 2018 from China totaled up to 96%.
The considered tariffs started in May of last year over a conflict with trade between the two countries. The proposal would have affected consoles, controllers, and coin-op arcade games.
In response, the three leading manufacturers in the industry sent a joint letter to waive the tax last year. Everyone who signed included Microsoft VP, deputy general counsel Linda K. Norman, Nintendo of America general counsel and executive VP of business affairs Devon Pritchard, and Sony general counsel, senior VP, legal and business affairs Jennifer Liu Including that message, the companies all reportedly pulled back on production in China, along with other tech companies like Lenovo and Amazon.
“While we appreciate the Administration’s efforts to protect U.S. intellectual property and preserve U.S. high-tech leadership, the disproportionate harm caused by these tariffs to U.S. consumers and businesses will undermine-not advance-these goals,” written by the executives of the companies involved.
The timing is beneficial to not only these companies but for the consumers. Sony and Microsoft are unleashing the next generation of consoles towards the end of this year with the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. To tag along, Nintendo has a rumored Nintendo Pro.
Things can change at any moment, but for now, everyone can relax and look forward to the upcoming generation of games and consoles.
