As if the scalpers, lack of supply, and the exploding Bitcoin prices and the resulting hike in crypto mining weren’t bad enough, three of the biggest GPU manufacturers just announced that they were hiking the prices of their GPUs due to the ongoing trade war between the U.S. and China.
When President Trump launched his trade war with China back in 2018, GPU manufacturers had been given a temporary exemption from the tariffs on Chinese goods that immediately followed. Those exemptions have now expired, with GPUs now being subject to tariffs of between 7.5% and 25%.
Gamespot earlier this month reported on ASUS being the first GPU maker to signal its intent to increase GPU prices in the U.S. to accommodate the new tariffs. The publication is now reporting that both EVGA and Zotac also plan to do the same.
Head over to EVGA’s website, and you find the following alert at the very top, notifying users of the increase in prices for RTX 3000-series GPUs across the board:
Due to ongoing events, EVGA has made price adjustments on the GeForce RTX 30 Series products. This change was necessary due to several factors and will be effective January 11, 2021. EVGA has worked to reduce and minimize these costs as much as possible. For those who are currently in the EVGA.com Notify Queue system or Step-Up Queue, EVGA will honor the original MSRP pricing through April 16th, 2021 if your purchase position is processed before this date.
EVGA’s increases tend to hover around $70 per product, while Zotac has raised prices between $90 and $100. Zotac’s RTX 3090 model, however, has seen its price increase by $350, bringing the current MSRP to an astounding $1,900.