Are you confused about what President Donald J. Trump is doing with tariffs? Join the crowd; we all are. But if you’re in charge of buying PCs for your company (because Windows 10 officially reaches end-of-life status on Oct. 14) all this confusion is quickly turning into worry.
Before diving into what this all means, let’s clarify one thing: you will be paying more for your technology gear — period, end of statement.
As Ingram Micro CEO Paul Bay said in a CRN interview: “Tariffs will be passed through from the OEMs or vendors to distribution, then from distribution out to our solution providers and ultimately to the end users.”
It’s already happening. Taiwan-based computing giant Acer’s CEO, Jason Chen, recently spelled it out cleanly: “10% probably will be the default price increasebecause of the import tax. It’s very straightforward.”
When Trump came into office, we all knew there would be a ton of tariffs coming our way, especially on Chinese products such as Lenovo computers, or products largely made in China, such as those from Apple and Dell. The question was: “Exactly how big would they be?”
The answer seems to vary from day to day. And that’s a problem for any company trying to plan for the rest of the year.
Trump’s first move was to sharply increase tariffs on imports from China, imposing rates as high as 125% to 145% on a wide range of goods, including many electronics. Then a week or so later, the administration announced key exemptions: smartphones, computers (including laptops and desktops), and several other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, memory cards, and flat-panel displays. All were excluded from these new “reciprocal” tariffs.
Note: electronics from China would still be subject to a 20% tariff, while those from other countries incur a 10% surcharge.
But wait! It gets even murkier. Apparently that tariff “relief “is temporary and partial. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has already said that sector-specific tariffs targeting electronics are forthcoming, “probably a month or two.” Just to keep things entertaining, Trump himself has at times contradicted his own officials about the scope and duration of the exclusions.
Then, on April 15, Trump signed an executive order that would impose a total tariff of up to 245% on all Chinese imports to the United States. Would you be willing to pay $2,478 for an iPhone 16 Pro? You might get to find out by year’s end.
It’s not just equipment from China. Take America’s ally, Taiwan. On March 26, Trump announced a new 25% tariff on imports of autos, auto parts, and computers. This was followed on April 2 by a separate 32% tariff on all other Taiwanese imports. Then, just a week later, that 32% tariff was reduced to 10% — for a 90-day negotiation period.
What it all adds up to is that, as of now, Taiwanese computers are exempt from the new reciprocal tariffs and the 10% global tariff for at least the time being. But wait, there’s more! Under a Section 232 Tariff, a separate 25% surcharge on computers remains in effect. This tariff specifically targets all computers — there are no exemptions from the 232 tariffs for Taiwan or anyone else so far.
Got all that?
At least, we’re not alone. As Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of client devices for IDC, told CNN: “It’s completely impossible for any company to plan. So, the best, the only thing they can do at the moment is… hip as many products as they can while the exemption lasts to the US.”
Oh, and lest I forget, full tariffs remain in effect for all the smaller peripherals our computers need. So, if you need USB charging cables, portable battery packs, headphones, or video game consoles, be ready to pay more — much more.
What can you do? Buy. Buy now. Prices won’t be getting any better anytime soon. Even if you accept Trump’s economic theories — that this will all lead to a resurgence of American high-tech manufacturing, which I don’t believe for one minute — it will be years before US-based computer and component factories are ramped up and releasing hardware. If you need a computer (or a fleet of PCs), you don’t have time for that.
What else could you do? Look for OEMs from countries that have relatively low tariffs. Unfortunately, the only thing we can say for certain is that it won’t be a company based in China. Other than that, we don’t have a clue. Trump can brag all he wants about everyone wanting to make a trade deal with him, but the simple fact is that no such deals have been made so far.
If you don’t want to move to Windows 11 or haven’t bought into the AI PC hype, you can try to make the most of your existing hardware. True, Windows 10 is only months away from its end of support, but those computers can still perform their jobs safely if you want to pay for support after October, but that’s whole different calculation. Or perhaps you could migrate them from Windows to ChromeOS Flex or Linux.
Is that what you want to do? Probably not – but considering where new PC prices are likely to be by the fall, it might be your most affordable option.