Video game console price increases could be back on the menu, as the Trump administration is reportedly weighing implementing a new round of tariffs on imported computer chips.
According to Politico, the administration is considering expanding the number of tech products subject to the duties, and they could include everyday electronics that use these chips–including gaming consoles, data center servers, and laptops. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is reportedly aiming to use these tariffs to push foreign tech companies to build manufacturing plants inside the US if they want tax relief.
While this plan hasn’t been finalized and could change in the coming months, Politico’s sources say that these new tariffs will be implemented slowly if they are approved. Tech companies have already warned that these taxes could backfire and hurt the US’s efforts to win the artificial-intelligence race. The advanced chip factories required to produce crucial components like semiconductors and memory cost billions to establish and take years to build.
This wouldn’t be the first time that console prices have risen because of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, as Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft hardware have all increased in price. While the companies haven’t directly attributed the price hikes to tariffs–citing global economic instability and other factors as reasons their products became more expensive–they did directly mention that tariff refunds have helped their bottom line. Both Sony and Nintendo, for example, got nice little paydays earlier this year after the US Supreme Court declared Trump’s tariffs to be unlawful.
None of these refunds have been passed back to consumers, but the makers of the PlayDate handheld, Panic, confirmed this week that it’ll be refunding anyone who bought the device when its price was increased to cover the tariffs.
