Gamers, claimed by mainstream media to have broken hard to the right in last week's presidential elections, are now alarmed that the import tariffs proposed by their favored candidate will sail quickly into being with Republicans controlling the White House, both branches of Congress and the courts. A PlayStation may soon cost $1,000, warns the Consumer Trade Association.
"Across the board, the tariffs will cause significant price increases for the U.S. consumer," the study said. The CTA estimated that laptop and tablet costs would go up 46%, smartphones would go up 26%, and video game consoles would spike 40%. That kind of increase would put the cost of the forthcoming PS5 Pro at just under $1,000. A top-of-the-line GPU, the kind used for AI and gaming, could bloat from around $900 to $1,300. The price of monitors would go up $109, desktops would go up around $74 overall, and headphones could cost an extra $35.
CTA VP of International Trade, Ed Brzytwa, stressed the damage tariffs would have on consumers in an interview with Tom's Hardware. "Tariffs are regressive taxes that Americans pay. They're not paid by a foreign government," Brzytwa said. "They're taxes that importers in the United States pay and foreign governments and foreign countries do not pay those tariffs. So when I say they're regressive, it means that they harm poor people and people of little means more than they harm wealthy people."
To think of people whose main concern is the price of a high-end video game console is to think of people who either don't have any real problems or who have no idea at all what problems are about to come their way.
