Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have asked US authorities to remove video game consoles from the list of products hit by potential new taxes on imports from China, according to a letter (New Window) made public Wednesday.
After a first burst of customs duties on a portion of goods manufactured in China, the US administration threatens to impose tariffs on the remaining $ 300 billion in imports, which would represent all US imports of Chinese products, including game consoles.
Taxes of 25% would raise console prices by $ 840 million, an amount that should be absorbed by consumers, wrote the three giants of the sector in a letter dated June 17 and published by the news site Vice Wednesday. Some 220,000 US jobs would also be threatened by new taxes, including hundreds in small companies, say the three manufacturers of consoles.
“While we appreciate the US government’s efforts to protect US intellectual property and US technological dominance, the disproportionate harm caused by these taxes to US businesses and people will undermine these goals, rather than help to achieve them. They write in this letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Many industry leaders from different industries have already written to the US authorities to also denounce these taxes, saying they are forced to pass on the sales prices.
The comments from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo echo those of the United States Game Manufacturers Association, a non-profit organization representing more than a thousand table game companies, according to that Polygon reports.
