US high-tech feels the pain of tariffs on Chinese exports

IN A LETTER RELEASED ON THURSDAY, Apple urged US decision-makers to have second thoughts and give up the 25 percent tariff on imports from China. Dell, Intel, HP and Microsoft have also issued a joint statement opposing the US administration adding laptops and tablets to the list of products that will be subject to the new tariffs. The 21st Century Business Herald comments:

True, the United States boasts advantages in the electronics industry. But most of its star companies' mainstream products are made in China, which is the world's largest market of these products as well.

US electronics companies started coming to China in the early 1990s, and have made it a center of the industry's supply chain, as well as the most important manufacturing center, which has helped them lower their costs, and contributed to the popularization of electronic gadgets. Although the cost of labor in China has increased, the improvement in productivity has offset this.