Nintendo and Professional Sports Authenticator paused parts of their US-related business activity as they evaluated how newly announced tariffs could affect prices and customers.
Nintendo postponed the start of US pre-orders for its Switch 2 console, which had been scheduled for April 9. The company attributed the change to a need to assess the potential effects of tariffs and changing market conditions. It did not provide a replacement pre-order date, but said the console’s planned June 5, 2025 release remained unchanged. The postponement applied specifically to the United States. [Source 4408]
Before the delay, Nintendo had announced a US price of $449.99 for the Switch 2 and $499.99 for a package including Mario Kart World. The game was priced separately at $79.99. Nintendo did not confirm that any of those prices would change, leaving the immediate outcome of its review unresolved. [Source 4408]
The decision followed tariff announcements affecting countries involved in technology manufacturing. IGN reported that industry analyst Daniel Ahmad had highlighted Nintendo’s production in Vietnam, where the company had moved some manufacturing as it sought to reduce exposure to earlier US tariffs on goods from China. The tariffs announced for Vietnam and Japan were higher than expected, Ahmad said, potentially increasing pressure on Nintendo if they took effect. [Source 4408]
A separate tariff concern prompted PSA, a business that authenticates and grades collectible cards, to stop accepting direct submissions from customers outside the United States. PSA said the pause was intended to shield international customers from substantial costs created by the new measures. [Source 4409]
The financial exposure for PSA customers was tied to the declared value of submitted collectibles rather than the price of the grading service. As an illustration, a 10% tariff applied to a card valued at $5,000 would create a $500 charge. That structure could make cross-border grading particularly expensive for owners of valuable sports cards, Pokémon cards and other collectibles. [Source 4409]
The pause did not guarantee that cards already travelling to PSA, or already held at its facilities, would avoid added charges. The company warned that orders entering the United States after 12:01 a.m. on April 5 could be affected. Returned items might also encounter retaliatory tariffs that had not yet been announced. PSA said it would use available options to reduce customers’ tariff exposure. [Source 4409]
PSA had previously stopped direct submissions from Canada, China, Hong Kong and Mexico following an earlier tariff round. Customers in Canada and Japan could still use PSA’s physical locations in those countries to submit cards for grading. [Source 4409]
Together, the actions showed two distinct ways tariff uncertainty was affecting commercial decisions: Nintendo delayed a major product’s US ordering schedule without changing its release date, while PSA restricted cross-border access to a service because tariffs could be calculated on the underlying value of customers’ property.
