Chen said the US price hike would happen “by default” from next month, adding that shifting manufacturing out of China, possibly to the United States, is under consideration.
“We will have to adjust the end user price to reflect the tariff. We think 10 per cent will probably be the default price increase because of the import tax. It’s very straightforward,” Chen said.
Acer’s most expensive laptops, which can cost up to $3,700 (£2,934), could see tariffs adding hundreds of dollars to what consumers pay at the till. While Trump claimed on the campaign trail that tariffs would not raise consumer prices, he recently conceded that they “could go up” due to the duties.
Chen mentioned that the price hike decision was made last week, but the increase may take some weeks since tariffs do not apply to products that left China before February.
He noted that some companies might use the tariffs as an excuse to raise prices by more than 10 per cent.
Acer, Taiwan-based and the fifth biggest seller of computers in the US behind HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Apple, primarily assembles its laptops in China.
Chen pointed out that the company had moved assembly of desktop computers outside China after Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs during his first term. Now, Acer is exploring “different supply chains beyond China” and considers manufacturing in America as “one of the options.”
Almost 80 per cent of laptops imported into the US are made in China, which Trump targeted with a 10 per cent tariff this month.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) warned that tariffs could cost American consumers up to $143bn and lead to a slump in sales. Although Trump’s 10 per cent tax on Chinese imports is significantly less than he threatened while running for president, the CTA highlighted that a 70 per cent tariff on China would drastically impact imports, US production, and prices.
Trump escalated his trade war last week by vowing to impose “reciprocal” tariffs on countries that charge VAT. Economists warned that a 21 per cent levy on British exports to the US could cost the UK £24bn. Despite acknowledging that “prices could go up somewhat short-term,” Trump added, “but prices will also go down.”
He concluded, “What will go up is jobs. The jobs will go up tremendously.”
