Nintendo Halts Switch 2 Pre-Orders Due to Trump’s Tariffs
|
|
- New tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on April 3, 2025, are about to affect the Nintendo Switch 2 base price of $450.
- Recently imposed tariffs also threaten massive price hikes on PC gaming hardware.
- Nintendo Switch 2 launch date of June 5, 2025, remains unchanged.
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in the US will not start on April 9, 2025. According to the official statement from Nintendo issued to IGN, the delay is implemented in order to comprehend the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions, while the launch date of June 5, 2025, remains unchanged. Nintendo promised to deliver an update on pre-order timing at a later date.
New tariffs, which are about to affect the Nintendo Switch 2 base price of $450, were imposed by US President Donald Trump on April 3, 2025, on imports from Vietnam and Cambodia, where, in 2019, Nintendo moved part of its hardware manufacturing in an attempt to avoid tariffs on Chinese goods, which were imposed during previous trade tensions. As of now, Vietnam and Cambodia are under 46% and 49% tariffs, respectively.
Besides the Nintendo consoles, the PC gaming hardware market is about to see the effects of a 25% tariff that covers not only raw aluminum and steel but also finished products such as PC cases and graphics cards.
Pre-orders were set to begin on the second week of April 2025, with retailers like Best Buy and Walmart already promising midnight launches for the successor of the third best-selling console in history.
