For those not aware, the USA and the European Union are possibly on the brink of a trade war, and that could involve tariffs, an extra tax that’s put on goods that are imported. The practice is usually done when there’s strain between two countries or entities. The current stand off is related to Boeing and the recent controversies surrounding them. We won’t go into all that, but as a result of it, game consoles’ prices could see a price hike in the European Union if the tariffs go through.
The EU published a list of imports that would be hit with the tariffs, and on the huge range of items is game consoles. The list is largely in response to the US wanting to levy $11 billion worth of tariffs on EU imports that they announced earlier in the week.
Neither entity has signed anything into actual effect as of now, and it would be impossible to say what kind of mark up consoles would see until the theoretical tariffs are implemented, but the United States has recently used tariffs on several countries, including China, so it’s definitely within the realm of possibility. And since those tariffs are still largely in place, it could very well affect next generation consoles. We’ll keep you updated, so stay tuned.