It might get even more expensive to buy a new smartphone in the United States. On Friday, just a day after stating that he would implement a 25% tariff on Apple iPhones if they weren’t produced in the country, Donald Trump doubled down to include all smartphones coming into the country.
“It would be also Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair,” Trump said “So anybody that makes that product. And that’ll start on I guess the end of June…. Again, when they build the plant here there’s no tariff.”
Smartphones are just the latest line of technology to be threatened with higher prices in the United States due to looming tariffs. Shortly after announcing the preorder date for its new console, Nintendo delayed preorders of the Switch 2 in the United States due to the uncertainty. Ultimately, preorders opened for the system with no change in console price but accessories such as Joy-Con 2 controllers did see an increase.
Even Sony has warned that the PlayStation 5 could see a hike in price while Microsoft has already announced an increase in hardware prices across the board.
According to CNBC, there are some who believe that moving smartphone production of devices like iPhones could result in price increases of the devices rising by 25% or more. Apple nor Samsung—or any other smartphone producer—have commented on Trump’s decision to tariff smartphones.
Do you think these tariffs on smartphones will stick, or will they turn out to be nothing? Let us know down below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
For more Insider Gaming Tech, check out this new PC case from SilverStone that wants to take you back to the late 1980s and early 1990s. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
More from Mike Straw
