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Trump Tariffs in effect: UPDATE 7 Trump wants everyone to know the China tariff is 245% (on certain goods) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (See staff communication)

Reading some of the discord online, there have been something massively bugging me for the last few days.

People keep saying that Switch became so successful for being the 'cheap, family-friendly' console and the Switch 2 is too expensive for families. Except, the Switch was never cheap nor that family-friendly. The Switch launched at $300 and literally never had an official price drop. The closest the Switch came to a cheaper option was the Lite, which isn't family-friendly since you can't hooked it to a TV and is mostly for one user play. The games were also market value at $60 and only looked 'cheap' now because the PS5 rose the base console price to $70 over four years later. Even then, it isn't like Switch games goes on sale often, while you can wait and not pay $70 for PS5 games.

By all accounts, it's the Series S that is the family-friend cheap system coming at $300 and you can get GamePass if you buy a lot of games. And until 2023, all of MS' games were $60. So how exactly was the Switch the cheap option?
 
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RDragon said:
Reading some of the discord online, there have been something massively bugging me for the last few days.

People keep saying that Switch became so successful for being the 'cheap, family-friendly' console and the Switch 2 is too expensive for families. Except, the Switch was never cheap nor that family-friendly. The Switch launched at $300 and literally never had an official price drop. The closest the Switch came to cheaper option was the Lite, which isn't family-friendly since you can't hooked it to a TV and is mostly for one user play. The games were also market value at $60 and only looked 'cheap' now because the PS5 rose the base console price to $70 over four years later. Even then, it isn't like Switch games goes on sale often, while you can wait and not pay $70 for PS5 games.

By all accounts, it's the Series S that is the family-friend cheap system coming at $300 and you get GamePass if you buy a lot of games. And until 2023, all of MS' games were $60. So how exactly was the Switch the cheap option?
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You are posting this like you deep down don't know its pure revisionist history after being burnt so badly by Switch. I have seen other post from you already calling out this "weird behavior", so I already know you know what's up. Those people also act like PS4 was 399.99 when Switch released along with hitting 199.99 to 249.99 several times temporaily even before Switch Lite released. Then you have people acting like PS5 digital and Xbox series S aren't in the same neighborhood of Switch Oled price (the leading Switch since it's release). It's mostly just console warriors, so ignore it. These people will even try to validate their dooming of Switch 2 with "it will not sale more than Switch", we'll duh that was a tall task no matter the price.
 
SquidEnthusiast said:
Ironically instead of tariffs negatively impacting the performance of Switch 2 Trump may have unintentionally created massive FOMO and boosted the Switch 2's demand considerably.
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I think there’s a very real chance it becomes the biggest console launch of all time. Early adopters are going to dive bomb in and scoop up any stock Nintendo puts out.
 
Mekanos said:
I think there’s a very real chance it becomes the biggest console launch of all time. Early adopters are going to dive bomb in and scoop up any stock Nintendo puts out.
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And scalpers. Buy now, sell after the 90 day period.
 
Mekanos said:
I think there’s a very real chance it becomes the biggest console launch of all time. Early adopters are going to dive bomb in and scoop up any stock Nintendo puts out.
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Many people keep saying that, but I think it was already going to become the biggest console launch of all time anyway.

The only thing that put a damper on that possibility was the Vietnam tariffs, and now that those are mostly gone, things are back on track. And of course now the launch might become even bigger...
 
Mekanos said:
I think there’s a very real chance it becomes the biggest console launch of all time. Early adopters are going to dive bomb in and scoop up any stock Nintendo puts out.
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That was happening before Trump. Every prior console was limited by supply and Nintendo has been rumored for months to start production early and have much more than usual planned.
 
Phenom08 said:
You are posting this like you deep down don't know its pure revisionist history after being burnt so badly by Switch. I have seen other post from you already calling out this "weird behavior", so I already know you know what's up. Those people also act like PS4 was 399.99 when Switch released along with hitting 199.99 to 249.99 several times temporaily even before Switch Lite released. Then you have people acting like PS5 digital and Xbox series S aren't in the same neighborhood of Switch Oled price (the leading Switch since it's release). It's mostly just console warriors, so ignore it. These people will even try to validate their dooming of Switch 2 with "it will not sale more than Switch", we'll duh that was a tall task no matter the price.
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Yep I remember from 2017-2020, Switch was always easily the most expensive system in the UK.

The PS4 was so dirt cheap, it was basically always around £240 with a game included and around £200 on Black Friday.

Also, almost noone buys retail games in the UK at MSRP as they’re always discounted but people online love to whine and complain. It’s like they just want to invent stuff. Apart from maybe 2025 which is launch year, I know Donkey Kong won’t stay at £66 but instead drop to around £50 at most retailers.
 
Dude 3 hours before the decision telling people to buy.
The market manipulation is insane and nobody cares, destroying an entire country (stocks or confidence will never be the same) for this short term gain.
 
It is crucial to determine how much inventory they can stock in the U.S. during this 90-day grace period. However, it is unfortunate that this may lead to a decrease in shipments to other countries.
 
I just hope this whole tariffs in the US won't affect Switch 2 pricing in other regions.
They may now try to ship more units to the US, but there's also a limit to how much they can physically stock up.
 
SquidEnthusiast said:
Ironically instead of tariffs negatively impacting the performance of Switch 2 Trump may have unintentionally created massive FOMO and boosted the Switch 2's demand considerably.
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If tariffs are indeed likely to raise the price of the Switch 2 soon, it’s simply smart economics to buy early and avoid that increase. And with reports indicating Nintendo is already holding a massive stock of Switch 2 consoles, the lasting entertainment value of video games, especially a perennially popular title like Mario Kart, is undeniable in today's expensive environment. This combination of factors leads me to believe the Switch 2 is poised for the biggest console launch ever.
 
This short video posted 3 months ago from Yanis Varoufakis is getting mentioned now because he pretty much predicted what would happen and what the hurdles are:




Also, a reminder that things are not over. Have a read of these five points from the white house press release titled, "CEA Chairman Steve Miran Hudson Institute Event Remarks" dated April 7, 2025:

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...n-steve-miran-hudson-institute-event-remarks/

The best outcome is one in which America continues to create global peace and prosperity and remain the reserve provider, and other countries not only participate in reaping the benefits, but they also participate in bearing the costs. By improving burden sharing, we can enhance resilience, and preserve the global security and trading systems for many decades into the future.
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The President has been clear that the United States is committed to remaining the reserve provider, but that the system must be made fairer. We need to rebuild our industries to project the strength needed to protect reserve status, and we need to be able to pay our bills to do so.
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What forms can that burden sharing take? There are many options, here are a few ideas:

  • First, other countries can accept tariffs on their exports to the United States without retaliation, providing revenue to the U.S. Treasury to finance public goods provision. Critically, retaliation will exacerbate rather than improve the distribution of burdens and make it even more difficult for us to finance global public goods.
  • Second, they can stop unfair and harmful trading practices by opening their markets and buying more from America;
  • Third, they can boost defense spending and procurement from the U.S., buying more U.S.-made goods, and taking strain off our service members and creating jobs here;
  • Fourth, they can invest in and install factories in America. They won’t face tariffs if they make their stuff in this country;
  • Fifth, they could simply write checks to Treasury that help us finance global public goods.
Tariffs deserve some extra attention. Most economists and some investors dismiss tariffs as counterproductive at best and devastatingly harmful at worst. They’re wrong.
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Those five points are what people are talking about now.
 
Nintendo got a huge stock bump on the news of the tariffs pause, which was expected to happen.
 
Welfare said:
That was happening before Trump. Every prior console was limited by supply and Nintendo has been rumored for months to start production early and have much more than usual planned.
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Yes, we know ALMOST for a fact that among the decision-maker points that lead to this Nintendo timeline (January teaster, April reveal, June release) there has been the will of producing many units, to be able to properly distribute a good numbers of consoles from day 1 - to avoid scalping, and possibly to properly feed each country with its own sufficient volumes, due to price differences

we also know that they moved production (not disclosed the ratio) from Chine to primarily Vietnam and in minor volume to Cambodia, to prevent this kind of tariffs issues - even if Trump unexpected Vietnam high tariff caused the preorder delay

we also know ALMOST for a fact that they started distributing units in the US since January, up to 380k units, possibly continuing also in the further months, up to end of March

With this 90 days tariffs break, I think the launch is saved even in the US and the initial sales could be very strong
after that: we can't know, right now

Godzilla said:
Dude 3 hours before the decision telling people to buy.
The market manipulation is insane and nobody cares, destroying an entire country (stocks or confidence will never be the same) for this short term gain.
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that's incredible, honestly
 
Hartmann said:
It is crucial to determine how much inventory they can stock in the U.S. during this 90-day grace period. However, it is unfortunate that this may lead to a decrease in shipments to other countries.
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Marukoban said:
I just hope this whole tariffs in the US won't affect Switch 2 pricing in other regions.
They may now try to ship more units to the US, but there's also a limit to how much they can physically stock up.
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There's an upper bound on the amount of USA shipments, provided by the production quantities outside China. Any unit made in China (which may still constitute >50% of the total) will necessarily end up distributed elsewhere. We also have to keep in mind that the console will launch a few months later in some of the "Others" markets such as SEA. Thus, it stands to reason that the proportion of Switch 2 units shipped to the USA won't differ massively from historical ratios.
 
I don't think will be a problem send the units from China to Vietnam, "change the box" and send them to USA :roll:






Obviosly is a joke.
 
ggx2ac said:
This short video posted 3 months ago from Yanis Varoufakis is getting mentioned now because he pretty much predicted what would happen and what the hurdles are:




Also, a reminder that things are not over. Have a read of these five points from the white house press release titled, "CEA Chairman Steve Miran Hudson Institute Event Remarks" dated April 7, 2025:

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...n-steve-miran-hudson-institute-event-remarks/





Those five points are what people are talking about now.
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World doesn't need to do anything of that sort, just sell some their US bonds and watch Trump panican in no time.
 
SquidEnthusiast said:
Constant support or Israeli colonization, forever wars in the middle easy, the surveillance state, drone programs allowing the US to commit acts of war without the messy need to declare actual war, all sorts of fun things that have been signed off on bipartisanly.
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Supporting Trump's election for this reason is not very sensible.

However, it appears that this propaganda was effective in either discouraging people from voting or influencing them to vote for Trump. Everyone knows it would get worse for Palestine and Israel with Republicans at power, because they have a similar, if not more extreme, stance on Israel,Palestine and war.

Not voting in a democracy is one of the most foolish things one can do.
 
Maabus1999 said:
Japan caused Trump to blink; Japan started selling off US treasuries causing the 10-year yield to hit hit panic territory and forced a walk back
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Thats the thing if China alone or some other countries combined would sell US treasuries, it could ruin the USA in a day. That the USA is the "most powerful" country in the world is a very wrong notion, because of its very capitalistic roots, the USA is relatively weak in this world even compared to some smaller countries.
 
EnergyDrink said:
Supporting Trump's election for this reason is not very sensible.

However, it appears that this propaganda was effective in either discouraging people from voting or influencing them to vote for Trump. Everyone knows it would get worse for Palestine and Israel with Republicans at power, because they have a similar, if not more extreme, stance on Israel,Palestine and war.

Not voting in a democracy is one of the most foolish things one can do.
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One of the things my father always tells me is that "If you dont make a decision, someone else will make it for you." This is basically how our elections work. "Lesser of two evils" is a concept for a reason.
 
Given the terrible situation with China given tariffs are now 145%, will Sony's Vietnam factories be up and running in 2026?

I wonder if it really is 2027, would they be better off just making PS6s from then on?
 
Somewhat off topic, but what to say thanks to this forum/thread for keeping things mostly drama free and everyone being as objective as possible during these trying times. Everywhere else I've been/lurk have been a drama fest with hyperbolic being served like candy.
 
Kmds said:
Given the terrible situation with China given tariffs are now 145%, will Sony's Vietnam factories be up and running in 2026?

I wonder if it really is 2027, would they be better off just making PS6s from then on?
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If this proves anything, having single country of origin as your manufacturing center is not a good plan. Now there won't be many leaders like this administration when it comes to trade BUT doesn't discount future spats.

Now I doubt companies will look at western G20 nations as a solution here (unless you can go fully robotic), but new strategic planning should be accounted for having two, preferably three, different major manufacturing centers.
 
Maabus1999 said:
Definitely gives More smoke to the Nintendo ninja theory. That said, the current Chinese tariff completely screws PlayStation hardware sales in the US if this continues beyond 3 months.
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Trump is playing with fire there with China, they will maybe give him a chance at a not terrible deal but that will be it. If he backtracks there will be no further meaningful discussions with his administration, China can wait him out and are willing to suffer until a solution is found, they will not bow down to the usa, that is clear
 
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Maabus1999 said:
Japan caused Trump to blink; Japan started selling off US treasuries causing the 10-year yield to hit hit panic territory and forced a walk back
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Maabus1999 said:
Definitely gives More smoke to the Nintendo ninja theory. That said, the current Chinese tariff completely screws PlayStation hardware sales in the US if this continues beyond 3 months.
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This is definitely conspiratorial. Japan, one of the top 2 countries in terms of amount of held US treasury bonds (the other being China), has been selling off their treasury bonds since late last year, give or take, because of rising interest rates from the Bank of Japan (don’t ask me how those are related, but they 100% are). The tariff stuff just hyper-accelerated something that was already happening at a large but consistent clip.
 
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Terrell said:
This is definitely conspiratorial. Japan, one of the top 2 countries in terms of amount of held US treasury bonds (the other being China), has been selling off their treasury bonds since late last year, give or take, because of rising interest rates from the Bank of Japan (don’t ask me how those are related, but they 100% are). The tariff stuff just hyper-accelerated something that was already happening at a large but consistent clip.
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It is not. It was reported by Fox, Fortune, WSJ and other business outlets, along with hedge funds who were getting out of positions.
 
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Maabus1999 said:
It is not. It was reported by Fox, Fortune, WSJ and other business outlets, along with hedge funds who were getting out of positions.
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And I’m here to tell you that they were reporting a sharp increase in activity that was already happening at a slower but significant rate across a far longer time period. Here is 2 sources showing how far back this goes.
www.japantimes.co.jp

Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys

Japanese investors sold a record $61.9 billion of the securities in the three months ended Sept. 30.
www.japantimes.co.jp www.japantimes.co.jp

There was a brief reprieve and Japan was buying again in January and February (opting instead to sell foreign equities), but that didn’t last very long and went back to selling bonds, when Norinchukin Bank opted to sell a huge chunk of its US and EU bond holdings. And then, of course, April happened and panic ensued between the banks and pension funds that were the major buyers of US treasury bonds in Japan.
 
Terrell said:
And I’m here to tell you that they were reporting a sharp increase in activity that was already happening at a slower but significant rate across a far longer time period. Here is 2 sources showing how far back this goes.
www.japantimes.co.jp

Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys

Japanese investors sold a record $61.9 billion of the securities in the three months ended Sept. 30.
www.japantimes.co.jp www.japantimes.co.jp

There was a brief reprieve and Japan was buying again in January and February (opting instead to sell foreign equities), but that didn’t last very long and went back to selling bonds, when Norinchukin Bank opted to sell a huge chunk of its US and EU bond holdings. And then, of course, April happened and panic ensued between the banks and pension funds that were the major buyers of US treasury bonds in Japan.
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You are looking at this the wrong way. It is not what Japan was doing as much as what the administration believed it was doing. It was a primary discussion point used to walk back the tariffs with Trump.

Here is a video clip that explains what happened, or at least what they believed:
 
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Maabus1999 said:
You are looking at this the wrong way. It is not what Japan was doing as much as what the administration believed it was doing. It was a primary discussion point used to walk back the tariffs with Trump.

Here is a video clip that explains what happened, or at least what they believed:
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Except you were discussing it as a brand-new thing that was happening, when it absolutely isn’t, and certainly wasn’t a deliberate act. As I keep saying, it was a continuation of a thing already happening, amped to 11 by American stupidity causing a justified panic in Japan.

Also… top financial executives didn’t see the bond sell-off coming and act surprised it was happening when the tariffs took effect (when even I saw this coming, and I’m not that smart myself, so what does that say), so you’ll forgive me if I don’t think much of their position on the subject, especially when a bunch of them would probably say all this madness is some grand 4D chess move by the Trump administration they had to pump the brakes on instead of what it is and therefore their opinion on anything is worthless.
 
Terrell said:
As I keep saying, it was a continuation of a thing already happening, amped to 11 by American stupidity causing a justified panic in Japan.
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Which is the same thing the news reports are saying? Countries buy and sell bonds all the time, daily, and the article you posted is just that in. What happened was a massive acceleration of those sales, which can be seen by the bond sale records. And they got the administration worried it would spread to more countries. It doesn't help when the first thing you do is go out and call this a conspiracy as well by the way.
 
https://m.economictimes.com/news/in...iprocal-tariffs/amp_articleshow/120234755.cms
The exemptions now extend beyond mobile devices and computers to include vital hardware such as semiconductors, solar cells, flat-panel displays, flash drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives.
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Seems like most electronics are getting exempted from the tariffs, but it seems like game consoles aren’t included. The ESA needs to make some phone calls lol. I guess it also depends on how broad they consider “mobile devices” and “computers”.
RDragon said:
Somewhat off topic, but what to say thanks to this forum/thread for keeping things mostly drama free and everyone being as objective as possible during these trying times. Everywhere else I've been/lurk have been a drama fest with hyperbolic being served like candy.
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Agreed. It’s been pretty good and levelheaded discussion in here. It’s much appreciated.
 
UPDATE 6
The purpose of this message is to provide further guidance on the additional duties due on imported merchandise which were imposed by Executive Order 14257, issued April 2, 2025, and published in the Federal Register Notice, “Regulating Imports with a Reciprocal Tariff to Rectify Trade Practices that Contribute to Large and Persistent Annual United States Goods Trade Deficits,” 90 FR 15041 (Apr. 7, 2025), as amended by Executive Order 14259, issued on April 8, 2025, “Amendment to Reciprocal Tariffs and Updated Duties as Applied to Low-Value Imports from the People’s Republic of China,” and as further amended by the Executive Order dated April 9, 2025, “Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Trading Partner Retaliation and Alignment.”

In accordance with the April 11, 2025 Presidential Memorandum “Clarification of Exceptions Under Executive Order 14257 of April 2, 2025, as amended” (the Memorandum), products properly classified in the headings and subheadings of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) listed in the Memorandum, are reproduced below. All products that are properly classified in these listed provisions will be excluded from the reciprocal tariffs imposed under Executive Order 14257, as amended, pursuant to Section 3(b)(iv) of that Order, effective for merchandise entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01AM Eastern Daylight Time on April 5, 2025:
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  • 8471: Automatic data processing machines and units thereof; magnetic or optical readers, etc.
  • 8473.30: Parts and accessories of the machines of heading
  • 8486: Machines/apparatus for manufacture of semiconductor devices/electronic integrated circuits
  • 8517.13.00: Smartphones
  • 8517.62.00: Communication equipment (e.g., routers, switches, etc.)
  • 8523.51.00: Solid-state non-volatile storage devices (e.g., NAND Flash Memory or SSD )
  • 8524: Records, tapes and other recorded media for sound/data
  • 8528.52.00: Monitors for use with ADP machines (8471)
  • 8541.10.00: Diodes (excluding photosensitive and light-emitting diodes)
  • 8541.21.00: Transistors with power dissipation < 1W
  • 8541.29.00: Other transistors
  • 8541.30.00: Thyristors, diacs, and triacs (excluding photosensitive devices)
  • 8541.49.10: Mounted piezoelectric crystals
  • 8541.49.70: Transistors (classified under other semiconductor devices)
  • 8541.49.80: Optical coupled isolators
  • 8541.49.95: Other semiconductor devices
  • 8541.51.00: Semiconductor-based transducers
  • 8541.59.00: Other semiconductor devices
  • 8541.90.00: Parts of semiconductor devices
  • 8542: Electronic integrated circuits

CSMS # 64724565 - UPDATED GUIDANCE – Reciprocal Tariff Exclusion for Specified Products; April 5, 2025 Effective Date

content.govdelivery.com content.govdelivery.com

Site to look up all the headings: https://hts.usitc.gov/
 
That does not sound like video game consoles are being excluded from the tariffs. That sounds like the consoles are going to be subject to the pain
 
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