When it comes to economic literacy, Rep. Jay Obernolte is auditioning for the role of Sloth from Goonies. He champions tariffs and refusal to admit they hurt consumers, is now showing up not just in obscure economic charts, but in the sticker price of your next Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo system.
Obernolte and his fellow tariff enthusiasts like to pretend that import duties are magically absorbed by foreign exporters. In his public musings, Obernolte claims that tariffs are paid only by foreign countries, not by domestic consumers. That would be a fascinating spell, if it existed in real economics. Spoiler Alert: it doesn’t.
In reality, when the U.S. imposes heavy tariffs on electronics components or finished goods, importers and manufacturers absorb higher costs and then pass them directly to the end user. In other words, you pay. The narrative that tariffs are free money or pure leverage against foreign companies is just political soap opera, not serious policy.
Just this year, Microsoft announced it is raising prices for its Xbox consoles in the U.S., citing “changes in the macroeconomic environment.” Meanwhile, analysts and industry watchers are explicitly tying those increases to tariff pressures. The beloved pattern is now obvious: tariffs go up, supply chains strain, input costs balloon, and consumers get gouged.
To say that the $100 jump on the Xbox game console or the $80 increase for Playstation is coincidental is like insisting your car exploded by accident right after you topped off the gas tank with water.
Here’s the kicker: Obernolte is someone with a tech background. He was once a game developer. That gives him zero excuse to act like tariffs are some mystical forces beyond blame. He should know what inputs, manufacturing, and supply chains cost. Yet here we are, watching his policies turn tech products once falling in price with time into luxury gadgets locked behind tariff walls.
Photo by Billy Freeman on Unsplash
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