More from US tariffs: how Trump’s tax is hitting Big Tech and beyond
That’s what the chairman of one of Apple’s major manufacturers says the US risks within two months, suggesting stores “might resemble those in third-world countries.” Pegatron’s T.H. Tung told Reuters that US importers are still “waiting and seeing” in the hopes that even the 10 percent tariff on goods from outside China will be lifted, leaving short-term supplies under threat.
The New York Times published a clever visualization to illustrate just how many US imports are touched by President Trump’s tariffs. For instance, China apparently makes 97 percent of the baby strollers we import, a figure that came as a bit of a surprise to me!
Zulay Kitchen, which makes and sells kitchen gadgets, told CNBC that the company is “temporarily raising” the price of some of its products as it works to move production to India, Mexico, and other locations not subject to Trump’s 145 percent tariff on China.
Another seller, Pure Daily Care, plans to “stagger price increases” while trying to stretch existing inventory in case the US and China reach an agreement, CNBC reports.
After warning a hike was coming, the ultra-cheap Chinese retailers are no longer so ultra-cheap. The increase comes ahead of the end of the de minimis exemption on May 2nd, at which point their low-value, direct-to-consumer packages will be subject to a 120 percent tariff.
TikTok says it’s also raising prices on “impacted products” sold through the video app, while AliExpress warns of both raised prices and delivery delays.
[asia.nikkei.com]
That’s what The Financial Times’ sources are saying, with the goal of producing “the entirety of the more than 60mn iPhones sold annually in the US by the end of 2026.” But the real goal is to avoid the worst of Trump’s tariffs and to continue the diversification of Apple’s supply chain to places outside China.
So I guess “the army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little screws to make iPhones” won’t be from the US? Shocking.
“We are optimizing our production locations and also considering price hikes,” said Lucky Goldstar’s senior vice president Kim I-kueon. South-Korea based LG might move the manufacturing of home appliances like washers and dryers to its factory in Tennessee, where it could cover nearly one-fifth of LG’s total home appliance sales in the US market.
After playing red light, green light with Blade 16 sales, Razer is finally selling all versions of its latest gaming laptop. Those who choose to study the Blade can pick from configurations with the RTX 5070 Ti, RTX 5080, or our $4,500 review spec with an RTX 5090 GPU.
Razer never responded to The Verge about the gap in availability, but we can all take one big guess for the reason.
Unlike Anbernic, it’s not indefinite. “The current plan is to ship to 25th, then pause for a week, and try to choose a new channel for shipping after May 5th,” reads a customer support message from the company via Ayn’s Discord. Ayn currently offers 4PX and DHL.
But what if Ayn doesn’t find a new shipping channel? (HK postal service is suspending US shipments too.) No wonder the retro handheld community is worried about its formerly inexpensive hobby.
[retrohandhelds.gg]
The lawsuit will “challenge the unchecked authority of the executive branch to impose tariffs,” according to a blog post from the tabletop games publisher.
Co-founder Jamey Stegmaier said to Polygon that the law firm handling the lawsuit plans to file it later this week.
In the market for a new car? You may already be too late.
The Washington Post has a good article about Cook’s recent work with the Trump administration, including a conversation last week with the commerce secretary about how tariffs could impact iPhone prices.
Cook’s playbook for dealing with the first Trump administration is being widely replicated with the second.
[washingtonpost.com]
