The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which represents all major gaming companies in the US, has responded to US president Donald Trump’s sweeping trade tariffs, saying the measures will “have a real and detrimental impact” on the games industry.
Trump imposed wide-reaching trade tariffs earlier this week, with some of the highest levies targeting countries which also happen to be critical centres of video games hardware manufacturing. Vietnam, for instance – where much of Nintendo’s hardware production now takes place – was hit with 46 percent tariffs, while China’s reach as high as 54 percent.
Speaking with Game File’s Stephen Totilo, ESA senior vice president Aubrey Quinn said the increased costs associated with these tariffs “are going to have a real and detrimental impact on the video game industry”. Quinn also noted the way parts are sourced and devices are shipped means, “Any one product that a consumer would buy is likely to be subject to many of the tariffs announced, all compounded on top of one another.”
The situation could also worsen, Quinn suggested, as countries affected by the tariffs begin to take retaliatory measures. “I think what we heard yesterday is not the end of the story,” she added, “not for the United States, not for other countries.”