Other pricing pressures loom, but at least tariffs won't make things worse
(Image credit: MSI)
The White House said that it will once again delay the implementation of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese-made electronics, including motherboards, PC cases, and GPUs, from November 29, 2025, to November 10, 2026, delaying potentially higher graphics cards costs for another year. The delay was announced shortly after the U.S. and China agreed on a one-year tariff truce in late October, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative confirmed the move before the Thanksgiving weekend.
The Section 301 tariff was first proposed in 2018, during President Donald Trump's first term, but it was never fully implemented as both Trump and then President Joe Biden kicked it down the line like a ticking time bomb for over seven years. The last deferment happened in late August 2025, when Washington extended the exemption until this November 29th.
According to the U.S. Trade Representative [PDF], Trump initially applied the Section 301 tariffs as a punitive measure against China “as part of the action in the Section 301 investigation of China’s acts, policies, and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation.” However, it seems that its original purpose has been forgotten as the proposed tariffs became a part of the back-and-forth trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing, with the former using access to technology and the latter implementing rare-earth export controls as cards to be played in international relations.
Aside from this, industry groups have also been hard at work lobbying against the planned import tax. Putting a 25% tariff on these computer components would certainly drive up prices, even for brands that aren’t based in China.
For its part, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), in a comment on the USTR website, notes that “For many of the products currently subject to exclusions, alternative sources outside of China remain constrained. While companies continue to diversify supply chains, global capacity for critical inputs and specialized components is still heavily concentrated in China.”
And even though the tariff proposal has been around for many years, the CTA also said that “Additional time is therefore essential to enable gradual and sustainable diversification. Extending exclusions allows companies to continue operations while investing in new sourcing strategies.” CTA members, then, are getting their wish.
While these oft-delayed Section 301 tariffs only threatened to make graphics cards more expensive, PC builders and gamers are already feeling the squeeze from market realities as the AI data center boom drives up prices of other important components, including components like DRAM and NAND.
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While it's a relief to know that GPU prices won't be worsened by the implementation of these tariffs, that's cold comfort in a world where prices for DDR5 kits are approaching or exceeding the costs of entire systems. PC enthusiasts are still going to have to buckle up for a rough 2026 — and possibly even longer.
Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
