The tariffs on certain computer components are making a comeback. The USTR (United States Trade Representative) has announced the tax on imports of Chinese graphics cards, AI accelerators, and other components is making a comeback. These were initially implemented back in 2018 under Trump but were halted in 2022 under Biden. After a year off and review it seems as though they are likely making a comeback.
This would once again impose a 25% markup on a range of those Chinese products. Although it might not be every single product coming in it might be a significant selection of manufacturers and parts coming in from there. Especially as you might consider some motherboards or builds in the coming months, it could be getting a bit more expensive to do so.
This could be the time to upgrade and build your PC
The USTR has said it will now run and maintain the 8473.30.1180 and 8473.30.5100 tariff codes although according to the docket, there might be some time as of yet. The timeline seems to indicate that the docket will be open to comments from May 29th with the submission end looking to be around June 28th. That means the tariffs have not yet come into play but are quite likely to resume at some point in the coming months especially as political tensions rise.
Of course, it won’t be all your products that might see the price hike but it’s likely to be a good number of them. As several manufacturers such as ZOTAC and MSI produce their hardware in China, so it very much depends on where it’s all produced. Even though TSMC is very much known for the silicon in plenty of GPUs and other parts, they still are assembled in other countries such as China and so depend on the operation of the companies.
As plenty of of prices have already been rising over the years this is unlikely to be a popular decision with consumers in the country especially as we have rumors of the likes of the RTX 50 series coming soon, even AMD RDNA 4 is also set for some point in the year. That would just make them even more expensive as we saw the pricing rise but that is how it is so if you’ve been holding out for an upgrade, consider doing it before this comes in.
