U.S.-China trade deal clears way for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X

The United States and China have agreed to wind down the foolish trade war that president Donald Trump started in late 2018. Last week, the two countries signed “phase 1” of a trade deal. That agreement includes an increase in U.S. exports to China and some mechanisms for potentially protecting intellectual property in China. But it’s maybe more important to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo because it gives some assurance that the U.S. won’t enact new tariffs on video game consoles. As the U.S. and China went tit-for-tat throughout 2019, the console manufacturers made an unprecedented joint request aimed at Donald Trump’s government. Trump was planning to add a 25% import tax to a huge swath of Chinese goods by August including products like Xbox and PlayStation. In their June letter, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo asked U.S. trade representative Joseph Barloon not to go through with that plan.