Asus says its RTX graphics cards could be up to 25 percent cheaper
Asus says it’ll be lowering the price of its RTX 30-series cards (it lists the 3050, 3060, 3070, 3080, and 3090) by up to 25 percent. To list some examples based on Best Buy’s pricing, a 25 percent price reduction would take a Tuf 3060 12GB from $550 to $412.50, a Strix 3070 8GB from $825 to $618.75, and a Tuf 3080 12GB from a whopping $1,500 to $1,125 (though do note that Asus is saying the reductions will be up to 25 percent, and it hasn’t released details for any specific cards).
The company says that consumers will see the lower prices “starting on April 1st, 2022” and coming to “different models throughout the springtime.”
Yes, I also narrowed my eyes and furrowed my brow when I heard that the change was set to start on April Fools’ Day. But Asus cites a specific reason for the prices going down — a “tariff lift on Chinese imports from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.” In early 2021, the Trump administration started imposing a 25 percent tax on graphics cards imported from China after an exemption carved out for them in tariffs from 2018 expired. At the time, Asus told The Verge that it would increase the MSRP of its cards as a result (it cited the tariffs, among other factors).
On March 23rd, however, the Office of the United States Trade Representative announced that it will be reinstating that exemption through December 31st. Given that it raised its prices because of the tariffs, it makes sense that Asus would lower prices now that the tariffs are gone (though whether they stay gone is another question entirely).
There’s still the question, though: will this make it easier and / or cheaper for me to get a graphics card? The answer is… well, it’s exhausting because of how complex buying
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