GPU prices are threatening to climb, but at least tariffs won’t make it worse – 25% import tax on Chinese-made electronics suspended once again

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.

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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.