The threat of US tariffs is looming once again.
Politico shared this report today:
The Trump administration is weighing a new round of sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, eight people familiar with discussions told POLITICO — despite warnings from tech companies that the move could doom U.S. hopes of dominating artificial intelligence.
One tariff approach under consideration would dramatically expand the number of tech products subject to the duties, hitting not just chips but potentially many of the goods made with them, such as laptops, gaming consoles or the servers that fill data centers, the people said.
Politico goes on to say that the idea is apparently to make foreign companies invest in semiconductor manufacturing in the US.
This comes after Intel failed in their grand plans to launch and boost their US semiconductor manufacturing facilities. This is a high risk, high investment industry that takes years to set up.
But for gamers, these tariffs could immediately lead to higher prices for video game hardware, and possibly imperil the entire industry. It’s especially risky with Sony and Microsoft expected to launch their next PlayStation and Xbox soon.
