Trump’s China trade war pulls consumer technology into crossfire

The prices of headphones, speakers, high-tech lighting and internet service could all go up if the U.S. trade war with China continues.

The Trump administration’s hit list of Chinese products facing import taxes includes key components used in gadgets that can be wirelessly operated through a smartphone or another device. The tariffs also will nail networking equipment that makes the internet work.

It remains unclear how much prices might rise, partly because the next round of tariffs won’t be imposed until the fall. The technology industry’s broad reach and financial heft also complicates the calculation. Apple, Google, Microsoft and other major technology companies have such diversified product lines and deep pockets that they simply could absorb the additional costs triggered by the tariffs rather than pass them along to consumers.

But even the richest companies will usually only shoulder an ongoing tax such as a tariff for so long before raising prices, said Timothy Sturgeon, a senior research affiliate at MIT’s industrial performance centre.

Those prices will eventually hit consumers, Sturgeon predicted. “That’s how companies work.”

Citing national security concerns, the Trump administration has already imposed a 25 per cent import tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods, but the impact on electronics was mostly limited In this Nov. 3, 2017, file photo, a customer counts out cash for the purchase of two iPhone X’s at the Apple Store on New York’s Fifth Avenue.

to components for TVs and video equipment. The next volley will drop a 10 per cent tariff on another $200 billion in Chinese imports, including chips used in consumer electronics devices like those made by JLab Audio, a Carlsbad, California, maker of Bluetooth headphones and speakers that connect wirelessly to phones. The administration’s proposed tariffs would affect products that generate 70 per cent to 80 per cent of JLab’s sales.

“Just about any wireless accessory made for a phone is going to be affected,” JLab CEO Win Cramer said. “We are going to have to start charging retailers more, and my guess is they can’t afford the haircut either. So at the end of the day the consumer is going to pick up the tab.”

If JLab passes along the entire

cost of the tariffs, a pair of sports earbuds listed on its site at $149 could end up costing $163.90.

That might not sound like much, but Cramer says every dollar counts in a fiercely competitive audio market. JLab could suffer if one of its main rivals, Beats, doesn’t also raise prices. Beats is owned by Apple, whose enormous iPhone profits could easily cover the cost of tariffs on Beats headphones. “I don’t have anything else to lean on,” Cramer said.

Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment. Other big companies with products and services that could be affected by the next round of tariffs, including Google and Microsoft, either declined to comment or didn’t respond to inquiries.

Stock market investors so far don’t seem to be concerned about the tariffs hurting big tech companies. Apple recently became the first U.S. company to be valued at $1 trillion, and the stocks of both Microsoft and Google parent, Alphabet, are hovering near their all-time highs.

“For the most part, this looks like it will have minimal impact on tech,” CRFA analyst Angelo Zino said. He reasons big companies will be able to offset the costs of the China tariffs by tapping into the billions of dollars they are saving annually from the dramatic cut in corporate taxes championed by the Trump administration.

The tariffs could pinch consumers who are embracing one of the hottest trends in tech right now and furnishing their homes with internet-connected speakers, security cameras, appliances, lighting and locks that can be controlled through a smartphone or voice commands.

“If you have a home with any level of intelligence built into it, you are going to be impacted by these tariffs,” said Dean Garfield, CEO of the Information Technology Industry Council, whose members include Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

The first round of Trump tariffs, for instance, forced San Mateo, California, startup Brilliant to raise the price of its smart light switch by 20 per cent. The devices, which allow users to control lights and other gadgets around the house, are built by a Chinese company. Each one contains several hundred components affected by the initial round of tariffs, Brilliant CEO Aaron Emigh said.