The PS5 Pro is a costly apparatus at $699. Envision a scenario where its price is $1,100. Such price levels for consumer gadgets might soon become a reality courtesy of upcoming President Donald Trump and his proposed tariff schemes.

Trump is on the verge of becoming President and perceives that the term tariff “is the most beautiful word in the dictionary.” As part of his initial formal acts, Trump is anticipated to impose tariffs on imports to the U.S. as well as a hefty tariff on commodities from China. The bulk of the electronics America consumes are produced in China. With the advent of a tariff, the cost of every beloved item for gamers will escalate. And more than initially presumed.

The Consumer Technology Association took a break from its bustling week coordinating CES to release a fresh analysis on Trump’s tariffs and the potential repercussions they foresee on electronic pricing. It’s a bleak examination of a worst-case scenario, although it’s also anchored on policy suggestions circulating in D.C. at the moment.

The updated CTA document delves into further detail regarding Trump’s anticipated actions and their potential implications on the electronics sector. Two proposals are circulating D.C. presently. The first is a comprehensive tariff layer of 10% and an additional fixed tariff of 60% on all Chinese imports, what the CTA calls the “10%/70% Scenario.” The second is more stringent. The layer would be 20% on all imports and an extra 100% on any items from China. This daunting situation is the “20%/120% Scenario.”

The intention is to penalize China and motivate firms to relocate manufacturing into the U.S. to avoid substantial tariff expenses. In practice, companies will transfer the burden onto the consumer. Manufacturing and supply chains are intricate. Everything necessary to manufacture a PS5 Pro cannot be assembled swiftly. Shifting manufacturing out of China will require decades of building and transformation. In the interim, Americans will bear the expenses to compensate for the heavy tariff rates.

Preliminary reports suggest that businesses like Microsoft, HP, and Dell are stockpiling electronic parts and shifting production outside of China in preparation for the Trump administration. NVIDIA and AMD, which have recently introduced new GPUs, are hastening to deliver as many as possible to the U.S. before Trump assumes office on January 20. The RTX 5090 is already a $2,000 graphics processor. That cost might surge up to 40%, reaching $2,500, should some of Trump’s suggested tariffs be implemented.

“The suggestions would increase the average U.S. tariff on imports from all nations, excluding China, from roughly 1% to 21%, and on imports from China from 11% to 131%, given current trade volumes and patterns,” the CTA report indicated.

The report examines a range of major consumer electronics, such as laptops, gaming consoles, headphones, and smartphones, and computes the impact of the two distinct scenarios on pricing. “The proposed tariffs on these ten products alone would curtail American consumers’ purchasing capacity by $90 billion to $143 billion annually,” the report mentioned.

Laptops and gaming consoles would bear the brunt since China is the principal provider for both and there aren’t numerous alternatives. “For instance, in 2023, China was responsible for 87% of U.S. gaming console imports, 78% of U.S. smartphone imports, 79% of U.S. laptop and tablet imports, and two-thirds of U.S. imports of monitors,” the report stated.

During his preceding administration, tech lobbyists persuaded Trump to grant them an exemption on tariffs concerning electronics. It’s uncertain if they’ll replicate the same accomplishment this time, but the revelation that AMD and NVIDIA are stockpiling GPUs, alongside significant tech companies beginning to move production abroad, stands as a grim omen.

For the CTA, this represents a maneuver by the U.S. government to enhance its revenue. One that’ll cost consumers significantly. “Fundamentally, these proposals are mechanisms for the U.S. government to extract as much tax revenue as feasible from the American populace. We have witnessed this scenario before and recognize the conclusion. The suggested tariffs will not spawn more employment or manufacturing within the U.S. Indeed, the contrary might transpire where our productivity declines and jobs might diminish as businesses and workers face less affordable technology,” Gary Shapiro, the CTA’s CEO, and Ed Bryztwa, the CTA’s VP of international trade, asserted in the report.

Trump expanded government expenditure during his presidency and augmented the national debt by $8 trillion. He also decreased taxes for high-income earners. Stringent tariffs, which will severely impact gamers, will be a vehicle for his administration to increase revenues independently of enacting stricter taxation laws.