Good news for GPU buyers: The US government will not reimpose Trump-era tariffs on Chinese-manufactured graphics cards, for now.
The tariffs—which would have added a 25% duty on affected Chinese imports—were supposed to come back into effect at the start of 2023. But on Friday, the Office of US Trade Representative (USTR) decided to push back the date by another nine months.
The government office did so because it’s currently reviewing whether to make major changes to the Trump-era tariffs. This could include scrapping them or doing nothing.
The Biden administration has also been battling inflation. So in the meantime, PC builders won’t have to worry about a price hike coming from US import tariffs—at least until Sept. 30.
The Trump administration originally imposed the tariffs to punish China for unfair trade practices and to bring more manufacturing jobs to the US. But companies including Nvidia, HP, and Zotac have said China remains vital to the supply chain for products including graphics cards, despite failed attempts to move the manufacturing elsewhere.
In response, the Biden administration in March temporarily exempted 352 products from the Trump-era tariffs, including Chinese-made motherboards, desktop cases, and certain power supplies. But the exclusions were only set to last until Dec. 31. As a result, trade groups had urged the White House to postpone or cancel the Trump-era tariffs altogether, warning that retailers would otherwise have no choice but to raise prices.
“Because American businesses must make supply chain and sourcing decisions many months in advance, the uncertainty created by USTR’s inaction compels our companies to incorporate 25% price increases into product lines that may soon be without a Section 301 tariff exclusion,” the Americans for Free Trade warned back in October.
USTR is asking for public comment on the effectiveness of Trump-era tariffs, which can be through an online portal.
In a statement, the Consumer Technology Association said it welcomed the US government's decision to delay re-imposing the tariffs. "Tariffs have proven to be ineffective in stopping Chinese practices around IP theft and forced technology transfer, and have instead slowed US jobs and manufacturing," the association's vice president of international trade Ed Brzytwa said.
He added that the "CTA looks forward to providing comments to USTR during its four-year review of the tariffs as we continue to call on policymakers to put an end to the tariffs that are hurting American businesses and consumers."