Tariffs announced by Donald Trump will drastically impact a number of industries across the world, and video games are in no way excluded. While Apple's supply chain issues might not matter as much to gamers, what they likely care more about is the potential the tariffs have to raise the already high price of the Nintendo Switch 2.
Nintendo revealed its new console in an hour-long Nintendo Direct event on Wednesday, with the price of the console and the new games we'll be playing on it revealed immediately after. It'll be $449.99 USD if you want to just buy the console, or $499.99 USD to grab the bundle that includes the newly revealed Mario Kart World.
In 2019, Nintendo moved part of its hardware manufacturing out of China and into Vietnam and Cambodia. At the time, though it certainly looked like it, Nintendo stated that the move was not done as a means of avoiding tariffs during disputes between China and the United States.
The tariffs Trump announced later on Wednesday, just hours after Nintendo's presentation, include a 46% tariff levied against Vietnam and a 49% tariff levied against Cambodia, both of which could end up impacting the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 on a global scale.
Trump also announced a base 10% tariff on all exporters to the United States that will go into effect this coming Saturday, April 5, 2025, while countries facing higher tariffs, like Cambodia and Vietnam, will have their tariffs go into effect on April 9, 2025. The 10% base tariff is also not being added to the ones Cambodia and Vietnam already face.
Unless some kind of deal is reached, including a lower tariff or an exception to certain exports to the United States, there's a very good chance the cost of the Nintendo Switch 2 could go higher than it already is.
