The fallout from the threat by President Trump to increase tariffs on Chinese goods is almost certain to impact amusement machine prices for UK operators.
While distributors and operators can buy directly from China, thus by-passing the US, the problem is that many of the big marques of games are Chinese-developed and US branded before shipping out to Europe.
And even if not entirely assembled in China, many may be affected by tariffs on Chinese components, such as monitors for example.
Around 60 per cent of parts come from China, so it matters not whether a game is assembled in China or the US - there is an increase in the cost to build.
The increase by the new Trump administration of an additional 10 per cent import duty added to the existing 7.5 per cent, which now makes it 17.5 per cent on imports from China to the US, is higher than anticipated.
So on a $10,000 machine imported to the US from China we will see import duty rise from $750 to $1,750. This in itself is damaging to trade.
Freight is another major factor. The instability of the Middle East has seen the rerouting of shipping to longer and safer paths, which extends transportation times for goods and increases costs.
In 2024, shipping rates from China into Europe rose by 20 to 30 per cent, adding as much as $1,000 to the cost of the average game.
The outcome is obscure at best right now and it is obvious that the story will run and run as Trump uses the threat of sanctions and tariffs to rejig the world’s financial markets.
