(Credit: Joseph Maldonado/PCMag)
UPDATE 6/2: The Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has announced a last-minute pause on the 25% tariff that will last through Aug. 31.
Original Story:
A dormant 25% tariff on Chinese-assembled graphics cards and motherboards is expected to return this weekend, unless the Trump administration acts.
A year ago, the Biden administration extended the pause on the 25% tariff by granting exclusions to the affected Chinese imports, but only through May 31, 2025.
The 25% tariff originated during the first Trump administration as part of its Section 301 investigation into China's trade and technology policies. But at times, Trump and then Biden exempted Chinese-assembled GPUs and motherboards from the duties. The manufacturing for both components still occurs largely in China.
Since then, the Office of the US Trade Representative under Trump has not said whether it’ll extend the exclusion. If it lapses, PC vendors face a 25% import fee on top of the 20% tariff rate the Trump administration is already imposing on Chinese electronics.
So far, the USTR press office hasn’t responded to repeated emails and a phone call about the fate of the tariff exclusions. But the major lobbying group for the electronics industry, the Consumer Technology Association, tells PCMag it expects the exclusions to expire tomorrow. That’s bad news for PC builders since many graphics cards are already being sold at inflated prices, forcing consumers to pay hundreds of dollars extra, depending on the model.
Jon Bach, president of custom PC maker Puget Systems, is also bracing for the exclusions to expire. “I'm watching the news cycles closely over the weekend and early next week,” he said, noting he plans on updating his blog about the potential impact.
The 25% tariff is unrelated to a court ruling this week that struck down some of Trump’s broader tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The 25% tariff on Chinese-assembled GPUs and motherboards was instead imposed under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and remains legally intact.