Gaming accessory maker 8BitDo halts shipments to the US due to tariffs

Popular gaming accessory maker 8BitDo is halting shipments to the US from its Chinese warehouses and manufacturing because of the impact that Trump’s tariffs are having. Existing stock within US warehouses will continue to be sold, but there’s no restocks coming until the situation has been resolved or worked around.

They’re joining other companies like gaming handheld maker Anbernic, PC case maker Hyte and others in halting shipments to the US through the uncertain times for Chinese imports ahead.

Originally known for their retro controller recreations and replacement boards for classic gamepads, 8BitDo’s brand has grown in the last few years as they’ve shipped more general purpose controllers for all modern platforms, whether it’s a full-sized Ultimate 2 controller, a retro-style mechanical keyboard and mouse, or the tiny Micro controller for quick pick-up gaming. They’re among the many accessory makers who have adopted Hall Effect sensors for their analogue sticks, while maintaining comparable or lower prices to first party controllers for PlayStation, Xbox and Switch.

The pause in shipping to the US is down to two policies that the Trump administration has put in place, with the 145% tariffs on Chinese imports and an end to de minimis exemptions for shipments valued under $800 coming about as close to a trade ban as you can get without actually putting one in place. While there’s a stay of execution for smartphones and other consumer electronics, video game consoles and accessories are classified as toys by the US ITC.

The full impact of Trump’s tariffs is yet to really be felt, as many companies with Chinese supply chains rushed to get imports through before tariffs would be applied and some of the biggest tech giants have diversified their manufacturing hubs to use other countries throughout Asia – Apple, for example, has built up manufacturing in India, Nintendo is using Vietnam for some Switch 2 production, and so on – and so are able to get the lower 10% tariff rate that is applied to the rest of the world… for now.

There is the looming threat of the higher tariffs for almost all countries that were announced back at the start of April coming back, but given just how much manufacturing is still centralised in China, the US will start to feel the impact of this very soon.

via Polygon