President Trump this week exempted smartphones and some electronic components from the highest tariff rate imposed on Chinese imports.
It’s just the latest pivot in sweeping changes to U.S. trade policies since Trump in February first introduced global tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China.
Reciprocal tariffs levied earlier this month against 60 U.S. trading partners were rolled back after global stock markets collapsed.
The shifting policies are especially difficult for small and medium-sized manufacturers to navigate, according to Manufacturing Dive, a manufacturing industry publication.
Kent Displays, which makes liquid crystal writing tablets and other consumer electronics in Kent, Ohio, sources components from all over the world.
CEO Asad Khan said his business, like many small manufacturers, has been upended by Trump’s tariffs.
“Right now, it's so chaotic that we really are struggling trying to figure out when is it that we should make concrete plans and how,” said Khan.
There’s no playbook for weathering this kind of economic whiplash, Khan said.
He said Trump’s shifting tariff policies make planning impossible.
“We cannot take that long-term view right now because we don't know what will happen four months from now,” Khan said.
He fears higher costs could make his products unaffordable for consumers.
Manufacturers like his rely on a global supply chain that can’t be replaced by domestic sources, according to Khan.
“Some of our raw materials, even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t be able to source them within the U.S.," he said. "They simply don’t exist or the industry doesn’t exist.”
