After limiting the supply of RTX graphics cards for multiple months, NVIDIA has approved an increase in GPU shipments ahead of the Chinese 6/18 celebrations. A report from mydrivers indicates an increase of “at least 30%” in GeForce RTX graphics card supply. Previously, stocks of midrange GPUs, including the RTX 4060 Ti have been lean, leading to hoarding and scalping.
The increase in shipments should normalize the prices of entry-level and midrange graphics cards, allowing AIBs and retailers to offer discounts during the festival. Major etails like JD, AliExpress, and Vipshop, should reflect the updated pricing ahead of the event next month.
Meanwhile, the US Trade Representative (USTR) has recommended that the White House maintain the currently suspended tariffs on GPUs, motherboards, and PC chassis made in China. These duties add a 25% import fee on semiconductors shipped from the Chinese mainland. The Biden administration has also announced a doubling of the trariff rates from 25% to 50% on Chinese-made electronics.
While neither import fee has been officially announced, this can’t lead to anything positive for consumers. The US-China tradewar is dragging on with strict import restrictions of advanced semiconductor equipment to China. While CPUs from Intel and AMD are fused in Vietnam and Malaysia, Radeon and GeForce graphics cards from most AIBs are packaged/assembled in China and Taiwan.
