The US game industry is horrified by this. As the largest market for games, reduced purchases in the US affect everyone who works in the business -- one that is already the poster child for layoffs.
Anything that punishes the games business in the US can only hurt the US more than other countries. It would be ideal to build game consoles here and we could and should. We invented all the fundamental technologies behind computer hardware, software, and video games. There must be a way to attract that business back here with a carrot rather than a stick.
Why would it be ideal for the USA to build consoles? The Asians build the hardware, the Americans make the software. That’s exactly the kind of specialization and efficiency that trade is all about.
I agree and it worked as long as that carve-out were permitted. But if we want to make that stuff here, we certainly can and every community targeted for such a factory would welcome it.
Working class Americans lived their highest standard of living when more physical things were made here. We still have that option.
That’s basically what the IRA was but for renewables and battery technology. The same states that benefited from it (red states in the south) voted against it in the last cycle. It’s crazy.
To each his own, but I'm going into very decreased spending because EVERYTHING is going to go up. I'm probably particularly sensitive to how much the increases may impact "emergency funds" right now as we just had >$10K fly out the door this month (sick cat, dog dental cleaning, new tires and control arms).
If this isn’t immediately repealed, I wonder how it will affect consumers behaviors in the long term. It feels like consumerism is a habit, and if you break the habit it might not be so easy to get people started again.
I agree. I'm also interested to see if it actually increases "made in America" goods and whether it has any unintended consequences.
One guy was talking about mini excavators he was buying from China for $8K. The equivalent American brand was over $40K. Prices of the American brands could go up due to foreign components (which won't immediately have manufacturing capacity here, and will likely be even more expensive), 10% would bring it up to $44K. Meanwhile even a 100% tariff on the $8K import would "only" put it at $16K. The people buying the $8K ones aren't going to start buying $44K versions, they'll still buy the import most likely. Meanwhile, it could be that some $40K buyers move to the $16K import, decreasing sales of the American version.
And on top of it all, retaliatory tariffs from other countries could decrease exports of the American product, reducing sales even further.
Reminds me of the situation the US car manufacturers have been facing. If you ignore the rest of the world, then you get left behind and no one overseas buys your products anymore. You effectively cut yourself off from the majority of your customers.
It might be worth us all looking at what impact the Great Depression had on consumption patterns (and repairing things that break instead of replacing them) of that generation.
Lots of used tech is about to flood the market. Demand destruction will be a strong trend for a few years. I expect falling prices and a deflationary spiral.
Anything that punishes the games business in the US can only hurt the US more than other countries. It would be ideal to build game consoles here and we could and should. We invented all the fundamental technologies behind computer hardware, software, and video games. There must be a way to attract that business back here with a carrot rather than a stick.
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