Donald Trump's global tariffs could have massive impact on Nintendo Switch 2

Donald Trump announced a raft of new, radical tariffs which will impact goods being imported into the US and it seems the Nintendo Switch 2 console and physical games could be among those heavily affected.

Tariffs are taxes charged on goods imported from other countries and pretty well all countries that export to the US will have at least a 10 per cent tariff on them.

Some of those subject to the steepest tariffs are Asian countries where the Switch 2 is being manufactured and exported.

China already had a 20 per cent tariff imposed on it earlier in the year and has been hit with an added 34 per cent tariff, meaning there is an eye-watering tariff of 54 per cent on goods exported from China to the US.

Nintendo manufactures the majority of its products in China and to avoid the threat of these tariffs when Trump was in office during his first term, when there was a trade war between the two countries, Nintendo moved the manufacturing of some of its products and sourcing of materials to Vietnam.

However Vietnam has been one of the countries hit hardest by Trump's latest tariffs with a 46 per cent tariff imposed, meaning the Switch 2 is very likely to cost even more for US consumers.

The Switch 2 was revealed during a Nintendo event on April 2 and is priced at $449 or $499 for the console and Mario Kart World bundle.

And there are fears the console could end up costing consumers even more because of these new tariffs.

Daniel Ahmad is a director of research and insights at Niko Partners who analyses the video games market in Asia and MENA (Middle East and North Africa).

He previously said it's consumers that are likely to bear the brunt of Trump's tariffs and reiterated that.

Ahmad posted on social media: "Nintendo shifted its manufacturing to Vietnam to avoid tariffs and with today's reciprocal tariff announcements they're likely going to end up paying tariffs anyway.

"Also you (US citizens) now have a lot more to worry about than affording a Switch 2."

Vietnam has had the second highest tariff (46 per cent) imposed by Trump, second only to Cambodia (49 per cent).

Financial Times previously reported Nintendo stockpiled "hundreds of thousands" of Switch 2 units in anticipation of these tariffs and it's not yet known if the current Switch 2 price takes the rises into consideration.

Elsewhere, the Mario Kart World reveal trailer showed off a massive risk for the series and the internet seemed to collectively groan at how much Switch 2 games will cost in the US.

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