In a last-minute scramble, tech heavyweights like Apple, Dell, and Microsoft have been fast-tracking shipments of phones and laptops to the U.S. ahead of sweeping new tariffs on Chinese goods.
Trump tariff news: iPhones getting snapped up, laptop sales disrupted – what we know
The report comes via Japanese outlet Nikkei, which says these companies are leaning hard on their Asian suppliers to pump out as much inventory as possible before the new rules land. Unfortunately, the slapdash nature of the tariff rollout has complicated those efforts. “The biggest challenge is that we don’t have so many components and materials in stock,” one exec told Nikkei. “There’s only so much we could ship less than a week before the new tariffs begin.”
The tariffs officially hit on April 9, slamming Chinese exports with a staggering 104% hike — made up of a 20% levy already in place, the 34% tacked on last week, and a fresh 50% added by Trump after Beijing refused to walk back its own retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
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The Trump administration says its goal is to push American companies to bring manufacturing back home. But here’s the catch: the supply chains, factories, and skilled labor needed to build devices at scale in the U.S. simply don’t exist at the moment.
While some tech companies have been rushing to refresh their inventory ahead of the tariff rollout, others are hitting pause. Nintendo has delayed preorders on the Switch 2, while Razer Blade laptops disappeared altogether from the company’s online store on April 8.
How will President Trump’s tariffs affect you? Keep checking Mashable.com as we cover the latest impacts on the tech and shopping worlds, from how tariffs delayed Nintendo Switch 2 preorders to iPhone 16 panic buying.
