The United States has proposed an increase of tariffs on Chinese goods to 25%. Products affected include laptop computers and tablets, among others. This has raised concern among top electronic companies in the US including HP Inc, Microsoft Corp, Dell Technologies Inc and Intel Corp, saying this will lead to an inflated retail price of their products and may also reduce consumption of their goods by customers.
Donald Trump, the US President, presented this proposal and said that goods which had already left China before this agreement will not be affected by this tariff. These goods were to be subjected to the 10% tariff, but the 25% import duty was to take effect immediately after the arrival of these goods, that is, after the 1st of June.
HP, Microsoft, and Dell are the largest sellers, with over 50% of laptops and tablets sold in the US. They said the execution of these tariffs would increase the price of their laptops and it would hurt both consumers and the industries.<
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These companies insisted that the implementation of these proposed tariffs would hike laptops retail prices, by not less than 19%, according to a study done by the Consumer Technology Association. Also, they said prices would increase in certain seasons such as back to school and peak seasons. This would hurt companies since most customers will not afford to purchase their laptops and mostly price-conscious customers.
Microsoft and video game makers, namely Nintendo of America Inc and Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC added that if these tariffs are imposed on video games, it will harm the gaming industry. The number of consumers of these games will reduce, and at the worst, it may lead to joblessness.
Although Trump plans to get $300 billion from tariffs on Chinese goods, it will hurt both importers and consumers. Manufacturers, retailers, and other businesses have moved to court to present their grievances to the USTR for review.
