usatoday24
The 104% tariff Chinese tax By the Trump administration it will shake the foundations of the smartphone industry. Apple and Samsungthe two great actors in the sector, base a good part of their manufacturing strategy in countries especially penalized by these new measures.
However, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers could better overcome the blow. Thanks to a strategy focused for years in international expansion and markets outside the United States, their direct exposure to the impact of these tariffs aims to be considerably less.
104%. USA He has officialized a 104% tariff to imports from China, carrying The commercial war between both countries to its peak maximum and leading us to a night of movement in the markets.
The consequences have been immediate: Fall of almost 5% in Bag for Apple generalized in the rest of great technology, with the uncertainty of a new commercial scenario that will shake its current strategies.
Chinese and United States manufacturers. For Apple and Samsung Import products manufactured in China or Vietnam to the United States will involve an increase in simply unassumable costs without price increases. A case that barely applies Chinese manufacturers, since they have never had too much presence in the country.
Giants such as Xiaomi, Oppo or Vivo do not sell smartphones in the United States. However, OnePlus, TCL and Motorola (Property of the China Lenovo) do have a presence in the territory. In fact, Lenovo is the third smartphone manufacturer in the United States.
The Lenovo case. Motorola and Lenovo are in the most compromised situation after the entry into force of tariffs. The manufacture of its devices is focused on countries such as China, Brazil and India. Importing the United States with 104% tariffs is simply unfeasible for the company, which would have to move its production chain outside China to survive in the United States.
Although not even maintaining a diversified production would be sufficient to partially overcome the impact of tariffs. The Type imposed on Brazil is 10% (the minimum threshold), while that of India amounts to 26%. A 10% tariff is assumed through a light rise hybrid strategy and cost absorption. One of almost 30% requires more drastic measures.
The consequences for the rest. On the side of OnePlus and TCL, despite being Chinese manufacturers, they have been making production to countries like India and Brazil for years, diversifying strategy for their product assembly.
A diversification that is not enough to overcome tariffs, since the bulk of manufacturing remains in China. The only solution? Move in record time the production outside your native country and centralize efforts in external factories.
A withdrawal on time. The most likely scenario after the implementation of tariffs is the disappearance of the little Asian trace that remains in the United States. With the exception of Motorola/Lenovo, this has never been a market to be conquered by China, a position that aims to reaffirm after the crossed commercial war.
Beyond mobile phones, companies like Xiaomi, which They sell household products and monitors In the United States, they will have it difficult to maintain presence in the country without raising prices abruptly.
A global impact. If manufacturers such as Motorola renounce the US market, with the consequent loss of income that this would entail, an increase in prices globally seems inevitable to alleviate the effects of losing presence in a key territory.
Companies such as OnePlus, TCL or Xiaomi, with a minimum presence there, would have it easier to absorb part of this small loss and not end up moving costs to consumers outside the US.
Despite this, not everything is so simple. Although Chinese brands do not sell mobiles significantly in the US market, they do have a presence in other categories such as televisions, monitors and home devices. The unknown is whether they will choose to compensate for the blow by increasing prices only in those lines, or if they will end up moving the extra cost to their entire catalog, including smartphones.
THE WAR OF COMPONENTS. The main Chinese manufacturers use American components, such as Qualcomm processors or Corning Gorilla Glass crystals. At the moment, this situation would be under doubt, since Qualcomm subcontracts the production of its chips to Taiwanese giants such as TSMC or Samsung Foundry (South Korea).
Something similar happens with manufacturers such as Corning, which diversifies production with plants in Asia and Europe to meet global demand. Given that US sanctions They prevent American memoirs from selling their most sophisticated integrated circuits to their Chinese clients, China does not have it easy to reduce dependence on the United States.
Image | Xataka
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