The newly-appointed President of the United States recent actions might make things very uncomfortable in the game industry. President Donald J. Trump has spent a little less than a week in office but has implemented a lot of isolationist fueled ideas for the United States, as he said he would. Why should we be concerned? Because one change in particular may lead to higher costs of video game consoles, hardware, and even game discs being imported into the country.
First, President Trump and his team have discussed imposing tariffs on any imported goods coming into the US. CNN even reported that the team might possibly implement a 10 percent tariff on all goods. Basically taxing the manufacturers of goods and services for having any of their products developed overseas, which means higher prices for consumers. Yes, including game consoles, peripherals, and video game software, like the upcoming Nintendo Switch console and Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One Scorpio. This is to say nothing about video game discs being manufactured and shipped to retail stores, which will certainly affect the retail price of physical discs.
This action can happen fairly quickly since President Trump can most likely levy these tariffs without support from Congress. Either through a lateral executive action he has as President or by pushing it through as part of a tax reform bill through legislation.
Thankfully the Entertainment Software Association has taken notice of this development. Since the ESA represents game developers and companies’ special interests they will most likely lobby against such an action. According to an inquiry by Polygon, an ESA spokesperson stated that they are looking into the issue.
As inconvenient as this would be for everyone in the game industry, since these taxes go to the government rather than the publishers meaning both they and consumers alike do not benefit, there is also a broader concern. Many economics experts say if such wide-spread tariffs are implemented for all goods, this could escalate into a trade war, with other countries imposing similar tariffs against goods and services manufactured by the United States.
