Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC, Microsoft Corp., and Nintendo of America Inc. this week filed a joint document to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to argue against the implementation of proposed tariffs that would increase the cost of video game consoles imported from China.
In the document, the companies claim that tariffs on game consoles imported from China would require U.S. consumers to pay 25 percent more per console and a collective $840 million more for consoles based on projected domestic holiday sales.
In 2018, more than 96 percent of game consoles sold in the U.S. were made in China.
The companies add that console hardware sales are a low margin business and that U.S. retail stores would have to pass tariff costs to consumers.
They conclude that tariffs on game consoles would not be a solution to protect U.S. intellectual property rights in China, as counterfeit game consoles are virtually nonexistent in the country.
The U.S. video game industry generated $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018.