Trump tariffs will make video game consoles up to 40% more expensive
Trump tariffs will make video game consoles up to 40% more expensive
Another Donald Trump presidency could mean an up to 40% increase in the cost of video game consoles in the US, causing chaos in the industry.
And laptops, and phones, and literally every other electronic thing you might want to buy
People that can still afford stuff will be so cool. The hippest tech, biggest cars and newest kicks, everything will be uber exclusive. This is good for america because reasons.
If that is truly their plan, they are dumber than we fucking figured.
If a billionaire wants to buy a swimming pool, he needs a considerable amount of other people to be able to afford swimming pools or it it becomes impossible for him to get one at all eventually.
To have a swimming pool, there needs to be an industry of specialized labororers who can manufacture and install. There has to be electricians who specialize in mixing water and electricity. There has to be people working the factories where the chlorine gets manufactured and bottled.
This is true for every product that billionaires consume. You really gotta think that these people with all this wealth would have people on the payroll pointing this out to them.
And now do some basic Google Foo and find out what is manufactured in Taiwan. If China gets it's way, because Trump thinks Xi is cool and he's a good guy, China will just waltz in - TSMC, ASML and Trumpf have some safeguards in place as far as I know to destroy anything valuable. So while you might want to buy shit, you can't because the Cheeto and his cronies collapsed it.
From this article
But in the case of the hefty tariffs that Trump put on China during his first term, economic studies found that most of those costs were passed on to American consumers.
Economists believe this could happen again. One study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, for example, calculated that Trump’s current tariff plans would increase costs for a typical American household by $2,600 a year.
Paying more for everything to own the libs! 🤡
Cant buy vidya console, got more money for eggs?
5D chess here people!
These tariffs create American jobs and long term boosts American skills and manufacturing abilities.
I'm not sure it's a safe bet. Only if the tariffs last longer than 4 years. Building new factories takes a couple years, then you need to break even all within 4 years? Just seems risky to me
Unlikely. In the age of globalism, it's much more likely that manufacturing will leave the US to dodge counter-tariffs. The combined markets of Europe and Asia is for most products larger than the US market, and that trend is only likely to increase in the future as Asia develops. Manufacturers know making stuff in Asia is just cheaper, and that American consumers are more likely to go into debt to buy stuff than other consumers. They also know that these tariffs are unlikely to last for long, because if the US takes the expected economic hit here then it becomes less likely that Trump/the GOP remains in control (eg midterms flip control back to the democrats).
Not much reason to move factories to the US, which is wildly expensive, when taking the hit and waiting it out is ultimately most likely cheaper.
And fridges, washers, dryers, tvs, vacuums, cars, phones.
Basically anything that has a microcontroller you're going to be fucked.
I'm actually really excited about the smuggling opportunities such a high tariff presents. It's a real job creator. It's been a long time since we've had major smuggling operations on the great lakes. Will be a big boom for Chicago too, since that's the point where the smuggled goods get put on trains. Maybe even get the outfit back together.
Al Capone watching his successors continue his legacy by smuggling PS5s and pirating games lol
Maybe we can have speakeasy arcades run by nerds with 3D printed tommy guns.
I thought Republicans were the anti-tax party?
It's not taxes, it's tariffs! Duh.
I think the "logic" is that if things are too expensive to import then companies will start manufacturing them domestically and create jobs. But that almost never works out. An economist could probably explain why better than I can.
I do know that the better approach is to support those industries here. That's why we recently dumped a bunch of money into the CHIPS and Science act.
I am actually in favor of tariffs in a couple of limited situations:
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Foreign goods are cheap due to non-existent labor laws
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Foreign goods are cheap, but produce more emissions than domestic manufacturing
#2 is also called a carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM, and the EU voted to implement one last year that goes into effect in 2026. The USA desperately needs one IMHO. I'm involved in a nonprofit that's been lobbying Congress to implement our own CBAM.
It's silly though to think that a tariff is anything but a tax. It's not any different than any other way that we use our tax laws to try to regulate "pure" capitalism by encouraging certain behavior and discouraging other behavior.
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It's okay if the taxes are only being paid by foreign companies. They.... they are, right?
Much like the grifters that they are, the Republican party does not have any convictions.
No less than The Economist uses the BMI ("Big Mac Index") to compare economies.
People did warn folks about this.
Good work Gamers. Your hardware will be more expensive, but at least Biden won't be suggesting a non-enforceable DEI directive at the HR of those game studios.
Your console, my price?
Apparently Google searches for "what is a tariff" skyrocketed after Trump won
Also "can I change my vote"
There are already quite a few regrets it seems, and the right wing are gonna learn how tariffs actually work real soon
I'm guessing the money they raise will also be used to help fund tax cuts for high income
I never use Google, so this is from a blank slate search. The top result for "can i c" is "can I change my vote?" Also the top 2 results for "what is" by itself are: "what is the 4b movement" and "what is a tariff". Here come the leopards.
Good, gaming is for chud man children and incels.
Turns on Switch and looks at latest sales for jRPGs
Really nothing but anime fans lusting after booba.
Puts Unicorn Overlord in cart
Really nothing but anime fans lusting after booba.
Puts Unicorn Overlord in cart
Whoa now, have you played Unicorn Overlord? Garbage name aside, the game is fucking awesome. Much more than anime boobs.
Truly proof gamers are the most oppressed group :c
/s
He’s surpassed Bob Barker in Orange competition next coat he’s basically in black face
And china will be doing the same for all Americans product enter to they country.
YO HO HO AND A CACHE OF TORRENTS!
Maybe lets wait for those tariffs to be actually imposed first before losing our minds over it.
As a small business owner I will likely have to completely shut down if/when tariffs are imposed, so yeah, this isn't about paying more for a video game for many of us.
Maybe lets wait for the leopards to start eating other people's faces before we do anything to stop or prevent it.
That's you.
Sounds like a perfectly great idea /s
Best news ever says dude still rocking the X-box 360 and happy about that.
At least prison business is booming when no one can afford to live even if they get paid. Land of the Free!
Dweebs weep.
I think more than "dweebs" buy consoles...
Also you're on Lemmy you dweeb lol
True. There are also parents buying them for their kids and a couple of other exceptions.
Glad we only buy game consoles from China. Can you imagine what these tariffs would do if a significant portion of our imports came from there?
So if I was planning on building a gaming pc am I gonna want to do it before mid january?
Bbbbut I wuz told China would pay for the wall! And my new Playstation!
