US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs have had a significant impact on Japanese game companies, with Nintendo, Sony, and Sega all seeing sizeable drops in stock.
The impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs against US imports has been a concern ever since he took office in January, but we’re now starting to see its effects in real time.
Trump’s initial tariffs were primarily focused against China, but as announced last week, he also introduced a ‘baseline’ 10% tariff on all imports to the US, while countries like China, Japan, and Vietnam – which he calls the ‘worst offenders’ in charging taxes on US goods – will be given additional custom tariff rates.
The 24% tariff on Japan has sparked a widespread drop in share price across the country’s video game companies, including the likes of Nintendo and Sony.
As noted by analyst Dr Serkan Toto on X, Nintendo’s shares dropped by 7.35%. This comes after the company delayed Switch 2 pre-orders in the US due to the newly announced tariff rates, as it looks to ‘assess the potential impact’ and ‘evolving market conditions’.
Other companies affected include Sony (-10.16%), Bandai Namco (-7.03%), Konami (-3.93%), Sega (-6.57%), Koei Tecmo (-5.83%), Capcom (-7.13%), and Square Enix (-5.23%).
‘The mobile game companies do even worse,’ Toto added.
As reported by Bloomberg, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said his government is preparing for negotiations with the US, to potentially reduce the impact of the tariffs, but warned it may take some time.
‘When we negotiate with the US we want to present a package,’ Ishiba said. ‘That will take some time, but we will make it a success.’
According to The Financial Times last month, Nintendo already shifted production away from China, in anticipation of Trump’s proposed tariffs, with the majority of Nintendo’s hardware imports into the US now coming from Vietnam and Cambodia.
However, Vietnam and Cambodia, were hit with 46% and 49% tariffs, respectively, in Trump’s latest round of import taxes, which are set to go into effect on April 9.
These were announced on the same day as the Switch 2 Direct on April 2, which caused Nintendo to immediately delay US pre-orders (no, we don’t know why they didn’t just wait a day to find out first).
Following the Direct, Nintendo announced the Switch 2 will cost £395.99 in the UK and $449.99 in the US. A bundle version with Mario Kart World costs £429.99 and $499.99. It’s widely expected that price will now have to be increased.
Could Trump’s tariffs impact the PS5 price?
These tariffs could also affect the price of the PlayStation 5, but Sony has taken several preventative measures to counter any sudden tariff hikes by the US government.
As noted in Sony’s financial report from February, the company duplicated supply chains and began ‘stockpiling a certain level of strategic inventory in the US’ to counter any proposed tariffs.
According to reports, Nintendo has also done this with the Switch 2, with ‘hundreds of thousands’ of devices sent from Vietnam to the US since the start of 2025.
This means the price of PlayStation 5 consoles in the US likely won’t be impacted in the short term, due to the stockpile, but once that runs out, it’s possible Sony will have to announce a price rise.
The majority of PlayStation 5 consoles are manufactured in China (which is subject to 54% tariffs), along with Japan (24% tariff).
By the same logic, Nintendo may stick with the originally announced Switch 2 price in the US and then change it later, but whether they do that probably depends on whether they think stock will last until the all-important Christmas gift-buying season.
As outlined by Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, Sony might consider various options if these tariffs persist, including shifting the production of US units to Japan to avoid the higher tariff in China, or raising the prices of accessories and games to make up for the cost.
‘The firm would need to evaluate how these tariffs impact current profit margins and how much they would need to increase hardware prices for the consumer,’ Ahmad wrote on X. ‘There could also be a potential impact on accessories and game pricing depending on how Sony wants to pass on costs.
‘The good news is that the initial stockpiling + Japan manufacturing + PlayStation 5 being mid to late gen at this point (profitable on per unit basis) + PS5 Pro likely priced at $700 in anticipation of some potential tariff impact, means that even with a price increase, the increase may not be as significant as it would be for new tech products.’
Clearly the Switch 2 is a new tech product though, which means Nintendo is likely to be in considerably more trouble, if the tariffs remain.
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