Wearable device maker Fitbit to shift production out of China from January

NEW YORK — Fitbit, Inc. will manufacture all its trackers and smart watches outside China from January, the wearable device maker said on Wednesday, the latest US company looking to insulate itself from tariffs.

The company said it began exploring alternatives to China in 2018 as Washington and Beijing engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff war that has upended global supply lines and roiled financial markets.

Fitbit in June joined a group of US companies in filing letters of opposition to President Donald Trump’s plan for more US tariffs on Chinese goods.

The tariffs would result in a competitive advantage for Chinese device makers in the US market, the company had said.

Fitbit’s smart watches, along with Apple, Inc.’s AirPods, Apple Watch and HomePod, smart speakers from Amazon.com, Inc. and Alphabet, Inc.’s Google, failed to win a reprieve from the 10% US tariff that started from Sept. 1.

Fitbit did not reveal the new manufacturing location, only saying it will provide more details of the impact of the move during its upcoming thirdquarter conference call.

Shares of the company were down 1.5% at $3.63 in afternoon trading.

A host of US companies are shifting — or looking to shift — their manufacturing facilities from China. Action camera maker GoPro, Inc. is relocating a bulk of its US-bound camera production to Mexico, while Google has moved production of its Nest thermostats and server hardware out of China, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.

Fitbit has been in talks with an investment bank about the possibility of exploring a sale, Reuters reported last month. —