March 23 of 2018, the Trump administration signed a bill imposing a 25% tax on certain Chinese goods, including GPUs. The Office of the United States Trade Representative announced a new tariff exemption that would continue through December 31, and ASUS plans to cut the price of its RTX 30-series graphics cards after the exemption takes effect on April 1. The GeForce RTX 3050, RTX 3060, RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and RTX 3090 will all be affected by the modifications.
However, it also stated that prices will drop by up to 25%, implying that not every model will experience such a drastic reduction. “Asus is one of the first companies to pass on these cost reductions to its customers. “Entry-level GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3060 graphics cards, mid-range RTX 3070 graphics cards, and high-performance RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 graphics cards will all see lower costs.”