Earlier this month, the Trump administration implemented a 10% tariff on Chinese imports, including electronics. In response, Acer has announced that it will be raising the price of its laptops sold in the U.S. by 10% starting next month.
Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes today reported that some analysts expect Apple to follow suit with a 10% price increase on at least some products.
From the report:
The top four PC brands in the US—HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Apple—manufacture most of their laptops in China. With Acer leading the way in announcing a 10% price hike, analysts expect Lenovo, Asus, Dell, HP, and Apple to follow suit.
We believe that Apple is more likely to absorb the cost of the tariffs instead of announcing price increases, but we shall see what happens.
The tariff took effect February 4, and it only applies to Chinese imports sold within the U.S., so other countries are unlikely to be impacted.
According to the Trump administration, the tariff was implemented in response to the "extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl," coming from China, Mexico, and Canada. The tariff could be lifted if and when the administration feels that these issues have been sufficiently addressed.
