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Nintendo Delays Switch 2 Pre-Orders in Canada to Align with U.S. Date

Nintendo confirmed on Tuesday that pre-orders for its Switch 2 system in Canada has been delayed to align with its postponement of U.S. pre-orders. The June 5 launch date remains unchanged.

The company announced on Friday that pre-orders for the system would be delayed in the United States from the initial April 9 date "to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions."

Nintendo had announced the global April 9 pre-order date, the US$449.99 price, and other details for its Switch 2 launch on April 2 at 9:00 a.m. EDT. U.S. President Donald Trump formally announced new tariff taxes on imports seven hours later, after U.S. stock markets closed. Stocks in the United States, Japan, and elsewhere have dropped across the board since.

Nintendo had already been shifting part of the original Switch's production from China to Vietnam since 2019 during Trump's first term. The Financial Times reported that factories in Vietnam and Cambodia now make more than half of Nintendo's hardware destined for the United States, and the company has stockpiled hundred of thousands of Switch 2 systems in the United States early, partly in anticipation of the tariffs.

Background on New U.S. Tariffs

Trump announced a baseline tariff of 10% on global imports to the United States would start on April 5. He also announced self-described "reciprocal" tariffs would start against many countries on April 9. Vietnam and Cambodia would receive some of the highest additional tariff rates at 46% and 49%, respectively, while Japan and China would receive 24% and 34%, respectively.

The United States already levied previous tariffs on China, so the total rate for China would be 54%. China responded to Trump's April 2 tariff announcement with its own additional 34% tariff rate starting on April 10, to which Trump threatened another 50% rate. If enacted on April 9, the final combined tariff rate on imports from China to the U.S. would be 104%.

The U.S. administration noted that it can raise tariffs further or lower them, depending on how countries respond. Vietnam agreed on Friday to talks with the United States on the tariffs.

The new U.S. tariffs would also affect toys, figures, and other merchandise produced in China, Vietnam, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia. The White House posted a list of products exempted from the additional tariffs after the April 2 announcement. That list includes "printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter," which indicates books such as manga and other comic books physically printed in Asia would be exempted from the additional tariffs.

Source: MobileSyrup (Bradly Shankar) via IGN, GameStop Canada's Instagram account, White House via The Bookseller (Matilda Battersby), IGN (Milton Griepp)