Topic: 25% Video Game Console Tax Proposed In the US

Currently the US and China are engaging in trade negotiations. Both sides are trying to gain the upperhand and one import tax that has been proposed to raise is on video game consoles. If the new tariffs pass the price to produce the parts that make up consoles will rise from 10% to 25%. This would affect all three of the current console makers Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, since they all currently manufacture many of their parts in China.
Source
https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/2019/05/23/trumps-new-tari...

Please edit the OP and elaborate.

I hope this is not true as i can barely afford video games as it is. I'm on disability and only make $827 a month. All i can say is it's now more important than ever to VOTE in America. If you have a problem with someone who has said I like to grab women by the pus@y. Declares themself a Genius and says everything they do is Great or the Greatest and everyone else is a Not To Smart Loser. Even though no one else in America has had more failed businesses Casinos, Air Lines, Steak Houses, Ect, Ect. Like i said if you have a problem with someone who spends CHARITY money on Paintings and Fountains for their houses and not on the poor or Tariffs in general Get Out And Vote.

That would do nothing except hurt tech companies, including many in America and Japan...this would be yet another stupid bill proposal that will probably be thrown out. I think what they're really saying with this bill is, "hey, ESA, give us more lobbying money, please!"

Who's They @CanisWolfred only one person is putting a 25% tariff on Chinese goods and that was done by Executive Order which Congress and the Senate can't vote on, only one person has the power to do this.

Unless something like this is designed to make western manufacturers competitive so the industry moves out of China entirely, it seems mostly destructive.
Essentially just making the average consumer pay for geopolitical strategising (and none of us have any idea if it's rational in terms of the geopolitics because it's insanely complicated to figure that out, they might just be shooting us in the foot for no good reason)
Still, most of the price of gaming comes from buying the games rather than the console, so this won't have that much of an impact on anything even if it does go through.

The whole idea behind trade wars is that "this will hurt us, but it will hurt you even more".
It's also worth pointing out that Trump has been harping on about this almost constantly since the 1980s. I think it's fair to assume he does genuinely believe it and it's not for some kind of hidden agenda.

I presume there's too many companies this would affect for it to actually happen. If it didn't affect big companies, I could very easily see it happening. So, a rare moment where EA and Activision might actually end up doing some good.

i appreciate your feelings but this is not the place for politics. The trade imbalance is a long overdue issue that needs addressed. This president may be the first in a long time to enact tariffs but it is hard to argue with the the results so far in regards to the economy.

Oh, I didn't catch that. TBF, there are lots of people who have been trying to make a "video game tax" for decades now, so I just figured this was related to one of those.

So, what @kkslider5552000 said. This effects too many companies to really gain any traction.

Unfortunately the powers in Washington DC don't understand or care that tariffs hurt the ordinary people far more than any corporation or country. That's what happens when we have a ruling elite that's never had to work a real job in their life. What do multi-millionaires care if a video game console is 300 dollars or 375 dollars? To them that's like the difference between a candy bar costing one dollar or one dollar and 25 cents.

I don't care what anyone says, America, and most if not all of the world, are not democracies or republics. The wealthy rule the world. They decide everything and there is nothing the ordinary people can do about it.

To be devil’s advocate; It is a hobby and not a necessity. It’s also a hobby that has maintained roughly the same prices for a very long time. So yes, it is like a candy bar cost increase, because a candy bar also is a luxury item.

Just to be clear, "video game consoles" is listed among literally hundreds of other items ranging from food and military, to luxury commercial goods and things that are significantly less so. I think it would be easier to list the industries that wouldn't be negatively impacted by this proposal, and I'd honestly be shocked if it was allowed to go through as is. That isn't to say that video game consoles will be taken off of a revised proposal, but I don't think we'll be seeing at soon as that article mentions. It'll likely be stalled by the usual lobbyist-feuled political engine we're used to hearing about by now.

@CanisWolfred, Lobbyists & Congress really can't do anything about the Tariffs, because as far as I'm aware they'll be enacted by Executive Order (in other words, for "emergency" purposes, the President bypasses Congressional authority to implement them).

While there are legit reasons for said power to exist, and past Presidents have used it, both Obama & now Trump (so it's not really specifically a Democrat or Republican issue) have used them much more than normal to pass laws that probably wouldn't get through Congress, but earn them brownie points amongst their base because it makes them look like they're doing something (even though the next President can, and likely will, erase the current President's Executive Orders with a wave of their hand). With Trump's tariffs, he's trying to live up to his promise (at least in the eyes of his base) to be tough on China.

@RR529 I guess I'm really behind on my politics, then. Well...okay, so this a problem. I'm going to start looking into congressmen and potential candidates that are looking to limit the power of executive order, then, because I really think there should be stricter guidelines on what constitutes an "emergency"...

@CanisWolfred I mean, they’ve been used since Washington. Even the Emancipation Proclamation was only an ExecOrder. (Which is why the proclamation actually did nothing historically, it was used as a measure to increase public support of the Union after years of war) Roosevelt had over 3500 of them, then no future presidents cooled their jets. Combined, BushClintonObamaTrump have barely 1100. Sometimes it’s something like naming a post office.
All an EO does is direct others within the Executive Branch, they can’t be used to create law.

Edit; Thanks for letting this stay open, mods. It’s nice to have civil discussions 😁

As long as it doesn't get toxic, it will remain open.

So yes, please do enjoy the discussion about the tax and the logistics, and yes please don't get too into politics.

I miss the old days when game consoles were made in Japan. I prefer to have my consoles manufactured in the country that Nintendo is based in.

Unless you care about geopolitical strategy, what is the difference exactly? If they didn't tell you, you wouldn't know the difference.

@HobbitGamer The reason I made the comparison to candy bars was because to normal folks, like I assume most of us on this site are (in terms of money) a small bump to the price of a candy bar is, at worst, mildly annoying. 25 cents isn't a huge deal to most people, especially on something you buy only in very limited numbers. However 75-100 dollars is quite the significant price jump to the average consumer. But for the wealthy people in power, it is like the 25 cent jump on candy bars.

The fact is that the ruling elite don't remotely understand what it is like to really work for a living, to have price differences in the tens or hundreds of dollars be a major difference. To someone making millions of dollars every year, the difference of 300 or 400 dollars is which bottle of wine you order while having dinner with your wife on Thursday. For normal people it can make that purchase impossible, or at least significantly more difficult. The ruling elite live in a different reality from the mass public, they can't understand what it is like for us and most don't even try to.

@Heavyarms55 Yeah, I got ya. Like I said, I was just playing a side. Price increases suck, I remember about 4-5 years ago when gas was over $4/gal and it cost me over $80 every time I had to fill up my Jeep. Largely due to political issues from people that didn’t have to drive themselves.