Gamers in the US may breathe a sigh of relief, as the current Trump administration has put a hold on certain tariffs from going into effect. The US President, Donald Trump himself confirmed the delay, saying that it was done in light of the upcoming Christmas season, and that he doesn’t want the tariff to “have an impact on US customers”.
As of today, the tariffs won’t be implemented until 15 December. The delayed tariffs, which would add an additional 10% the value of goods, include a long list of products over a number of exports. The list includes livestock, foodstuff, clothing, and of course, electronic goods. Such as smartphones, laptops, and video game consoles, to name a few.
Additionally, the Trump administration also said that certain products are in the process of being removed from its list, but these products will be “based on safety, national security, and other factors and will not face additional tariffs of 10%”.
As a recap, the tariffs are part of a broader plan of the Trump administration aimed directly at China and, some would say, the Chinese telecommunications company, Huawei. The 10% tariff in this scenario is actually the second of two tariffs, aimed at US$300 billion (~RM1.25 trillion) worth of Chinese goods being brought into the US.
For now, the stay of the proverbial execution has several major tech giants breathing sighs of relief. Following the news, stock prices for Sony and Microsoft are seeing a slight increase in their shares.
(Source: USTR, TechCrunch, CNBC // Image: TechCrunch)
