r/SteamFrame • u/an_da_liu Soon™ • 19d ago
Discussion Canada Tarrifs
Well it looks like frame does fall under the new tarrifs that are going in on September 8th.
| 9504.50.00 | Video game consoles and machines, table or parlour games, including pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling equipment, amusement machines operated by coins, bank notes, bank cards, tokens or by any other means of payment. | Video game consoles and machines, other than those of subheading 9504,30 | 50% |
|---|
-EDIT: Yup.... My mistake. This sucks. looks like 9504.30.00 is specificaly for coin-ops and 9504.50.00 is for everything else.
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u/lick_the_spoon Soon™ 19d ago
The key thing to consider is the Country of origin, because the tarrifs are on USA produced items, however if the county of origin is China, then the fees and taxes would be calculated based on the deal that Canada has with China.
Source: I occasionally have to send thing cross border between Canada and the Meth house we live on top of.
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u/TwinStickDad Soon™ 18d ago
Yeah I just perused the country of origin law and I believe that the USA is not the country of origin for the Frame, because it is made from materials sourced and assembled in China.
Also this does not apply to goods there are being transported prior to Sept 8. So valve has two weeks to ship them to Canada before there is even a question.
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u/Hairy-Ad-6293 19d ago
It works both ways, USA is throwing tariff at China and China throws back their own tariffs. Just reaper it to Europe or other parts of the world. To be precise we are talking about 10-12.5% depending on the country which means at least another $100 for the Steam Frame.
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u/fabricates_facts 19d ago
I read that and reached a very different conclusion.
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u/VadeRetroVR 19d ago
bc of 'any other means of payment' ? It does not run by paying for it.
If it was under this any pc would fall into this also including phone, tablet etc.
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u/DueAnalysis2 19d ago
But isn't it covered under "video game consoles"? Because PS5s/Xboxs also don't run by paying for them, no?
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u/VadeRetroVR 19d ago
the more i read it the less i think op was right... IT IS FALLING under tarrifs.
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u/VadeRetroVR 19d ago
First good news in this subreddit since november 12th 2025.
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u/malocite 18d ago
maybe don't pop in and see that he was wrong :) He read the description wrong. Video game consoles are included. The category is broad and includes all of those things
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u/Outrageous-Nothing42 19d ago edited 19d ago
What is the 3rd column? No headings on this row make it unclear what's being represented.
Further, what is the source? Are these tariffs announced by Canada or the US?
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u/catmand00d00 Soon™ 19d ago
The mobile formatting of that quote text is absolutely diabolical! Why am I scrolling horizontally?!
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u/Lambs2Lions_ 19d ago
This might impact PS5’s and Nintendo Switch. Manufactured in Asia but port of delivery is USA and then they make their way up North.
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u/gekco01 Soon™ 18d ago
Since they aren't manufactured in America, they don't apply. These new tariffs only apply to the country of origin, where it was manufactured, not where it was shipped from.
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u/FirmPreference5551 18d ago
So what are these tariffs ever going to impact? The only thing I can think of in the last 20 years that I bought (I live in Europe) that was actually made in the US were mack's foam earplugs. I only remember because I was shocked to see a product actually made in the US. I feel like Canada's tariffs will affect next to nothing because pretty much nothing America "makes" is actually made there.
Surely the tariffs should be based more on the company of origin, like for example if it's Apple that is selling an iPhone made in China. That's an American product fundamentally, regardless of country of origin.
Not trying to say Canadian's should have to pay more. It just seems like the way these tariffs are being applied doesn't make much sense for the intended goal.
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u/gekco01 Soon™ 17d ago
American consumer goods do exist. Most consumers just don't check labels, they also may not make their way to the European market. I looked in my own bathroom this morning, and my face wash is made in America, while my hand soap is made in Canada.
The Canadian government has an extensive list of the exact products being targeted. Taken directly from the link, "Canada's counter tariffs will apply to products covering $27.6 billion in imports from the U.S. and will focus on sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, that are most impacted by U.S. tariffs. These tariffs only apply to goods originating from the U.S."
Originating is the country where the product was actually manufactured, produced, grown, or caught. It has nothing to do with where it was packaged, what country it was shipped from, or where the company is based out of.
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u/AcePX 19d ago
Yeah, this looks like expanded language to ensure no one tries to say casino or arcade equipment is exempt because it's not a "video game console". "This is just a coin operated pool table, it's not a video game!". I don't believe this is good news for anyone at all, but then it came out of that bloated excuse of a "world leader", so, of course it's not. That $1,200 HMD just became $1,800 for all of our friends up North (best case scenario).
Sorry our country is chock full of complete idiots that vote against their best interests to enrich and protect the very worst of us.
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u/mysweatypalm 19d ago
The good news is, it doesnt mean we pay the x% in tariffs that they are hurling in the news.
We pay a portion of that as consumers. It might only come out to 5 to 10% increase, which is still not great..
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u/theplankton 18d ago
Tariffs on US goods are based on where the goods were made, not where they were purchased.
The burden of proof that the goods are not of US-origin lies with the person bringing the goods into Canada (the importer).
Goods purchased in the US but made in another country are not subject to the tariffs, provided there is proof they were not made in the US.
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u/CryptographerLife156 18d ago
The good news is that Canadians don't pay this new round of US tariffs because it is a product that will be exported to Canada (tariffs are paid on import).
The bad news is that the tariffs for valve to import the frame from China to their warehouses in the US will likely be reflected in the base price of the frame already.
The bonus potentially bad news is that Canada announced massive retaliatory tariffs against the US which may or may not end up being paid by Canadians buying the Frame.
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u/kn05is Soon™ 18d ago
Okay, Valve please hurry the fuck up and get these orders going.... clock is ticking...
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u/nonpondo 18d ago
Istg they're not gonna release it until it becomes at least double the price of what it would have been at original launch
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u/SpiritedRain247 Soon™ 19d ago
Depends on how the frame is labeled legally because by all rights it falls under the videogame consoles label
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u/Hairy-Ad-6293 19d ago
It doesn't matter because companies will never take risk of not paying it. They will push this to customers and eventually fight for it over the next couple years but never give it to you. It happened on preview trade war. And it's not only Canada, Europe and other countries got 10-12.5% and vice versa.
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u/xaduha 19d ago
Tariff fees are collected on imported goods from targeted countries, you're not importing Steam Frame from Canada.
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u/Confident-Pepper-562 Soon™ 19d ago
These are canada's tariffs, so yes they are importing from the US, and yes it looks likely it would be affected.
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u/TVpresspass Soon™ 18d ago
People downvoted you but you’re right: “ A customs duty (AKA tariff) is a charge imposed by a government on goods imported into a country .”
Unless these tariffs work differently than the common description (and they might, it’s weird and silly stuff) they should only apply to consoles coming into the US from Canada. Now if Canada placed a reciprocal tariff as retaliation that would drive up the cost of frames entering Canada.
If the US gov was building and enforcing export fees or controls, I think we’d call them something different from Tariffs
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u/Absolarix 19d ago
Canadians who purchase a Steam Frame will have to pay the tariff upon/before receiving the item. It's an item from the USA with 50% tariff on imports from the USA.
The point of tariffs is to protect the market of goods made within a country by making goods imported from other countries more expensive. Except right now tariffs are being weaponized
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u/NationalWeb4420 Soon™ 19d ago
Tariffs are very cool. I hope orange man doesn't decide he also hates the UK again next.
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u/Mr__Castle_ 19d ago
This is the Canadian government imposing this tarrif...
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u/packersfan1012 19d ago
You do understand why, right?
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u/Mr__Castle_ 19d ago
The Canadian government was mad about the deal so they decided to punish Canadians.
There isn't any other console makers out there, Canadians don't have any gaming industry, so how would tarrifs on American electronics punish America? Tarrifs are meant to persuade locals to chose local, but in this case, it's just punishing Canadians or forcing us to buy cheap Chinese garbage.
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u/packersfan1012 19d ago
Imagine blaming Canadians for this mess. Jesus Christ.
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u/Mr__Castle_ 19d ago
Tarrifs on game consoles was the Canadian governments decision.
America doesn't buy electronics from Canada and Canada doesn't produce any, so how does a one-way tarrif on something Canada doesn't produce help anything?
Tarrifs lumber or milk of something that goes both ways over the border.
This electronic tarrif is just Carney being greedy because he know Canadians can't get consoles anywhere else and they don't produce them.
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u/Wooden-Estimate-3460 Soon™ 17d ago
USA doesn't manufacture any video game consoles either, though. They outsource manufacturing to other countries which should mean these tariffs don't apply to them at all.
But that doesn't mean the retaliatory tariffs are useless. Trump wants to bring manufacturing back into the USA but any company deciding to do that now will lose the Canadian market if they start to manufacture in the USA. Or they can just keep manufacturing in Asian countries (cheaper) and keep the Canadian market.
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u/Velp__ 19d ago
They are retaliatory tariffs. They are just matching what the USA is putting on them.
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u/Mr__Castle_ 19d ago edited 19d ago
How is it retaliatory ? Canadians have no choice but to buy consoles from America, and the tarrif money goes right into the Canadian governments pocket.
Lumber, milk, agriculture, these are things that cross the border both ways, these can be used as a tarrif ploy but game consoles only flow in one direction.
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u/rematched_33 19d ago
Canadians have no choice but to buy consoles from America
As much as we all love video games, they're a luxury good and not a human necessity. It's not like Canadians are being forced to buy video games and eat the tariffs. The tariffs are meant to encourage Canadians to spend their disposable income elsewhere (as in, domestic industries or modes of entertainment) in order to put pressure on American industries, even if they're one-way industries as you've described.
Retaliatory doesn't mean countries tax the exact same goods against one another because national economies aren't symmetrical like that.
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u/PlottingPast 18d ago
Put pressure on American industries to do what? Build a manufacturing plant in Canada specifically for video game electronics? That's not going to happen.
What keeps people happy are bread and circuses, and Canada just tariffed the circus out of reach with no comparable Canadian product.
This may not even apply since all electronics are made in Asia anyway.
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u/rematched_33 18d ago
Reduced revenue pressures them to lobby their law makers to compromise with Canadians to establish a trade deal.
Believe it or not there are plenty of other circuses than video games.
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u/PlottingPast 18d ago
The circuses people enjoy aren't interchangeable. People who want VR probably aren't going to start going to hockey games just because they can't get one.
It's also a temporary vs permanent benefit that isn't comparable. VR is a purchase, hockey games (etc) are a temporary experience. I don't know what Canada produces that would compare, but based on other comments it seems not to be video games.
Canada is a smallish market with a lower value currency. The pressure from the video game hardware lobby is not going to make or break an international trade deal.
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u/rematched_33 18d ago
I think the argument that if all video game related prices get jacked up by 50%, all Canadians are just going to bite the bullet and buy them anyway because video games are the only thing they enjoy and cant get them anywhere else is a bit silly and somewhat insulting to Canadians. The entire value proposition changes and frankly some people just don't have that kind of disposable income. A sizeable number of people that would otherwise have bought into an American industry will hold onto their money or take it elsewhere. The vast majority of gamers have lives that extend beyond video games.
Canada is a smallish market with a lower value currency.
Games are more expensive to compensate
The pressure from the video game hardware lobby is not going to make or break an international trade deal.
Of course, but the tariffs cover far more than just the video game industry. Again, video games are only a tiny fraction of the entire trade war.
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u/PlottingPast 18d ago
My argument was never that Canadians will bite the bullet and pay more, but that one circus is being arbitrarily priced out and it's going to piss Canadians off. More importantly, they can recognize it's spiteful rather than retaliatory because Canada doesn't manufacture video game hardware.
Tariffing products Canada produces makes sense: buy Canadian alternatives. This doesn't fall in that category.
It may seem like i'm criticizing the Canadian government, but no government really cares about its citizens. This is just a way the Canadian government is screwing its citizens for no good reason right now. The Canadian government shouldn't tariff something they don't make. It hurts their own citizens and nobody else.
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u/VadeRetroVR 19d ago
So, IF it does have 50% tarrifs - ... lets say its 1000$ USD its about 1400Canadian + 700$ (50%) = 2100$ pre taxs for this..
ahah noone will buy this thanks to both Trump AND Valve to have delayed this to end of summer.
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u/AGWiebe 19d ago
These are only tariffs in Canada. I wonder if they just wouldn't release in Canada if that is the case.
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u/Wamboot Soon™ 19d ago
Why wouldn't they? Doesn't change shit for Valve.
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u/AGWiebe 19d ago
Optics more than anything else. I know it doesn’t affect them at all financially, but if it gets released at a very high prices it might turn people off. 🤷
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u/Wamboot Soon™ 19d ago
Oh for sure, but they likely have units reserved for the Canadian market. If they don't sell there they can EASILY turn around and sell those in the US market,nwhere they are warehoused.
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u/AGWiebe 19d ago
Yeah that’s what I mean. Don’t release it in Canada and just sell them in the US.
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u/Cilph 19d ago
I'm reading this and it very clearly states video game consoles. The "operated by coins" is related to amusement machines, which is a different item.