CTA: New Tariffs to Increase Costs by $1Billion Per Month

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The newly proposed 10% tariffs on imported Chinese products, due to take effect on September 1, 2019, is expected to further increase the tariffs on consumer technology products by at least $1 billion per month, says the data compiled by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

The consumer technology industry paid tariffs of $1.7 billion in the month of June this year. This is nearly eight times higher than the tariffs paid in the same month a year before. The imports registered a decline of 39% year-on-year. The imports of consumer technology products from China which would face additional 10% tariffs from Sep 1 onwards totaled more than $13 billion in the month. According to rough estimates, Section 301 tariffs on China have cost the industry over $10 billion, since its introduction in July last year.

The products to be covered by the new tariff include smartphones, laptops, tablets, computer monitors, televisions, wi-fi routers, digital cameras, smartwatches, wireless earbuds/headphones, smart speakers, flash memory, printers, printer cartridges, set-top boxes, streaming media players and lithium batteries.

Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA extended ongoing support to the president’s efforts to stop China’s forced technology transfers and IP theft. However, the unpredictable trade policy has forced companies to raise the costs of their products, thereby leaving American businesses, workers and families to pay for these tariffs.