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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Trump's new tariff proposals include a 25% tax on video game consoles

Shore on 24 May 2019
SpokenTruth said:
Shore said:

That wouldn't affect microsoft and sony consoles here where i live (they actualy produce them locally!) but nintendo products will be severely affected by this.

You wouldn't be affected by US tariffs on Chinese goods no matter where they are manufactured.  You live in Brazil. Tariffs are a tax paid by local import companies, not the actual nation the tariffs apply to. 

I didn't thought about this, thanks for clarifying!



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Lafiel on 24 May 2019
Shiken said:
spemanig said:
I'm stupid - do tariffs effect digital software or just physical products?

It won't affect games sales.  The games are produced in Japan, not China.  The consoles themselves for all three console makers are assembled in China, and therefore buying the actual console would be the only thing affected.

This tariff would only apply to China after all.

Game discs/packaging isn't produced in Japan for the world, every region has it's own production for that and there are tons of different producers to select from. The situation for physical Switch games might be more complex, but I believe Taiwan easily has enough flash production capacity to handle that for the US market.

And no, the console itself isn't the only thing that's affected, peripherals ( the 90+% that are manufactured in China) are affected aswell.

Last edited by Lafiel - on 24 May 2019

KManX89 on 24 May 2019

These "taxation is theft!" GOPers have no leg to walk on now.



TallSilhouette on 24 May 2019

Hope this stupid trade war ends before muh PS5 gets here. Not holding my breath, though.



RolStoppable on 24 May 2019
SpokenTruth said:

(...)

By the way, we are not China's only export market. Not only can they win this trade war, but it could easily make their ties to other markets stronger making them and those other markets themselves stronger.  While we lose because we do not have the materials, infrastructure or markets to make up for the difference or lost access to minerals and products.

(...)

Isn't that already happening? Trump started trade wars with China, Canada, Mexico, the EU and maybe even more. I remember a story about a potential trade deal between the EU and Japan that had been dormant for years, but then both parties came to a surprisingly quick agreement shortly after Trump had started acting under the belief that the USA are the unquestioned #1 global superpower.



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sethnintendo on 24 May 2019
haxxiy said:
Dulfite said:

I considered including that option in my post, but for some reason decided not to do so. You are right, they could just wait until a more pro-globality candidate wins office (in a year or 5 years) like Hillary Clinton, and Biden is certainly in that mold (and also by far the most likely Democratic nominee).

As a side note, China is the main exporter to most Asian countries, most of which are quickly joining the global middle class. In absolute terms, India alone adds more GDP per year than North America and the European Union combined. Demographically, they are some two decades behind South Korea and Taiwan, so I don't think they're that much in a hurry as you believe. They'll be fine.

Not that I agree with this whole global trade business, mind you. To buy and sell locally is much better to the environment. But we're going way off topic here.

Well India better keep that up because there is a shit ton of poor people there!  GDP doesn't equal wealth for all.



fatslob-:O on 24 May 2019
SpokenTruth said:

And finally, you (and Trump) need to recognize that we are a global market.  You cannot isolate yourself anymore.  That ship sailed decades ago. 

Nah, China is proof that a nation only needs to globalize at the bare minimum so that they can see an inward flux of IP transfer. After all, China bans google services, facebook, twitter, etc among other US based services so their pretty damn isolated ... 

China for all practical intents and purposes is an exceptional success story of how a single country can innovate in all complex industries like semiconductors, telecommunications, nuclear power, and high speed rails. Pretty soon, they'll have an independent aerospace technology and biotechnology sector so that no amount of trade 'embargo' from the west or it's allies will ever do any damage to China ... 

Personally, I don't think we should empower China any further than we have to. It would be bad news if China stopped it's dependence on western technology because now they truly have an option to not cooperate with America or it's allies ...



VAMatt on 24 May 2019
DonFerrari said:
spemanig said:
I'm stupid - do tariffs effect digital software or just physical products?

Depends on the legislation, but most certainly would apply to all.

At least in Brazil all gaming SW have the same tariff independent of being on any hardcopy.

Only if the digital game comes from China.  And, at this time, they're only talking about consoles anyway.



Bofferbrauer2 on 24 May 2019
KLXVER said:
Bofferbrauer2 said:

At 25%, I think it's quite a bit more than most other country. They did stomach the 10%, but I don't think they'll be able to do so with 25%, and will have to raise the prices - or not cut them in the US when everywhere else the prices go down.

Btw, the EU has 0% tariffs on Videogame consoles: https://madb.europa.eu/madb/euTariffs.htm?productCode=950450&country=CN

Yet we pay more. I would love to have a 300$ Switch for example.

Edit: Actually the dollar is pretty strong right now, so its not that much of a difference.lol

Yeah, and our price in Europe includes VAT. Add VAT on US consoles and they're more expensive in the US anyway.



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SpokenTruth on 24 May 2019
RolStoppable said:
SpokenTruth said:

(...)

By the way, we are not China's only export market. Not only can they win this trade war, but it could easily make their ties to other markets stronger making them and those other markets themselves stronger.  While we lose because we do not have the materials, infrastructure or markets to make up for the difference or lost access to minerals and products.

(...)

Isn't that already happening? Trump started trade wars with China, Canada, Mexico, the EU and maybe even more. I remember a story about a potential trade deal between the EU and Japan that had been dormant for years, but then both parties came to a surprisingly quick agreement shortly after Trump had started acting under the belief that the USA are the unquestioned #1 global superpower.

Indeed it has begun. Our major trading partners are signing deals with emerging markets.  China and India both will be larger markets than the US by 2030 With Indonesia not far behind.

fatslob-:O said:

Nah, China is proof that a nation only needs to globalize at the bare minimum so that they can see an inward flux of IP transfer. After all, China bans google services, facebook, twitter, etc among other US based services so their pretty damn isolated ... 

China for all practical intents and purposes is an exceptional success story of how a single country can innovate in all complex industries like semiconductors, telecommunications, nuclear power, and high speed rails. Pretty soon, they'll have an independent aerospace technology and biotechnology sector so that no amount of trade 'embargo' from the west or it's allies will ever do any damage to China ... 

Personally, I don't think we should empower China any further than we have to. It would be bad news if China stopped it's dependence on western technology because now they truly have an option to not cooperate with America or it's allies ...

China isn't isolated.  They are an export based economy.  They need external markets to function.  Much like a tourism based market such as Florida.  It can't operate in a vacuum.  China is built around exporting.  While it's internal markets are certainly growing (and have exceeded the US in PPP), it cannot sustain itself. 

Oh, and China is blocking Google (search, Drive, Gmail, Docs) and Facebook but notice they don't block Microsoft (Bing search, OneDrive, Outlook, Office) or Yahoo (search, email).  That suggests blocking has more to do with making deals with China than being isolationists.  By the way, did you know Yahoo owns a large stake (40% at one time) in the Chinese mega-corporation Alibaba?  You think that might have something to do with why Google is banned or is just being isolationist and that's just coincidence?



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