No stupid questions: If Nintendo wanted to avoid any hefty tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, how quickly could it move Switch 2 production to the U.S.? Trump has done a partial walkback on the tariffs already, but let’s get hypothetical here.
The short answer is that it would take a lot more time than you’d think, and the long answer is the same reason why every major hardware manufacturer that heavily relies on factories outside the U.S., like Apple, has been scrambling to find alternative solutions.
“Such a move would take years,” New York University Stern School of Business economics professor Joseph Foudy told Polygon. “Nintendo would have to set up a final assembly factory in the U.S., which means finding land, building a facility, and recruiting a workforce.”
According to the Financial Times, Nintendo currently manufactures more than half of its hardware in Vietnam and Cambodia, and the rest is in China. A move to the U.S. for assembling Switch 2s would require importing all the custom parts and paying the tariffs anyway. On top of that, Nintendo would have to shell out for the higher cost of labor in the U.S. If Apple were to do this, the cost to make an iPhone could nearly double, according to Bank of America analysts. The only way for Nintendo to completely avoid the tariffs would be to set up even more factories in the U.S. to make each and every part of the Switch 2, stretching the timeline out even further.
“By way of example, Apple has faced increased costs and risks due to its reliance on China dating back to the first Trump administration. And it has taken years to move even a fraction of its production to places like Vietnam and India,” Foudy said.
That’s also when Nintendo moved some of its Switch production away from China and into Vietnam and Cambodia. That six-year-old decision might be the only way Nintendo can side-step the staggering 125% tariff on Chinese imports that went into effect on Wednesday. Further centralizing Switch 2 production in those countries could minimize the impact. Trump dropped every tariff except China down to 10% for the next 90 days on Wednesday, but if nothing changes, both countries could shoot back up to some of the highest costs when they’re reinstated.
“Its best hope is that these other locations strike at least a partial trade deal with the administration or that the industry as a whole receives an exemption. But it’s impossible to guess the chances of either,” Foudy said.
None of this is good news for those of us who winced at the $450 price tag on the Switch 2. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser said the tariffs didn’t factor into the price, but the CEO of research firm DFC Intelligence suspects it did and predicts that there will be no price increase when pre-orders eventually go live. If he’s wrong or Trump reverses his decision on the 90-day pause, the Switch 2’s price might be closer to $600. Analysts told Reuters last week that iPhones could cost 30% to 40% more if Apple were to pass the cost onto consumers.
So, how quickly could Nintendo move Switch 2 production to the U.S.? So long that it’s not going to do that, at least not before the handheld launches in June. Nobody, not even Nintendo, can escape Trump’s tariffs.
“Nintendo, like a lot of manufacturers, is a ship in a storm that is struggling not to get hit by a big wave as best it can, but has little control over its fate,” Foudy said.
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