Trump’s 100% China Tariff Could Wreck the Gaming Industry

President Donald Trump just dropped a 100% tariff on Chinese imports, along with sweeping export controls on “critical software.” The official reason? A rare earth minerals dispute. The unofficial result? A direct hit to the gaming industry’s spine, and no one seems remotely prepared for it.

This isn’t some abstract trade policy. It’s a full-scale price bomb aimed at the exact parts that make gaming possible—GPUs, SSDs, controllers, dev kits, cooling systems, and the software tools studios use to build games in the first place. If it’s made in China or touches China’s supply chain, it’s now twice as expensive to bring into the U.S. And yes, that includes the guts of your PC, your console, and probably your next handheld obsession.

What’s Actually in the Tariff Package?

Let’s break it down. The new policy slaps a 100% import tax on Chinese-made electronics, which covers most of the gaming hardware ecosystem. That means manufacturers either eat the cost (unlikely), pass it to consumers (inevitable), or delay launches while they scramble for alternatives (already happening).

Then there’s the export control clause, which targets “critical software.” That’s vague enough to include game engines, dev tools, and middleware—basically anything that helps studios build, test, or ship games. If it’s flagged as strategically sensitive, it’s suddenly off-limits. And if you’re an indie dev relying on Unity or Unreal, good luck navigating that mess.

Goldman Sachs estimates U.S. consumers will absorb 55% of the cost increases, which means your next GPU upgrade or console purchase is about to feel like a luxury tax. And while China says it doesn’t want a trade war, it’s “not afraid of one”—so retaliation is very much on the table.

How This Breaks the Industry

Let’s start with the obvious: hardware prices are going to spike. Most gaming consoles and PC components are either made in China or rely on Chinese parts. A 100% tariff means production costs double overnight. That’s not a rounding error—it’s a crisis.

Peripheral makers like Razer, Logitech, and SteelSeries? Their supply chains are deeply tied to Chinese factories. Expect fewer budget options, delayed launches, and a whole lot of “coming soon” pages that never update.

Game development isn’t safe either. If export controls hit the tools studios rely on, we’re looking at production slowdowns, canceled projects, and a creative bottleneck. Indie devs will be hit hardest—they don’t have the margins to absorb this kind of disruption. If their platforms or testing hardware get caught in the crossfire, they’re stuck.

The Bigger Picture