US lowers tariffs on major tech exporting nations - but buyers will still pay more
- Reference: 1754022994
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/08/01/recipricoal_tariff_changes/
- Source link:
The US announced its new trade policy on April 2nd, which Trump [1]named “Liberation Day” because it introduced “reciprocal tariffs” that reflected the duties other nations charge on imports of US-made goods.
The administration suggested manufacturers outside the US establish stateside factories, the output of which would be immune to tariffs, to boost local employment.
[2]
The reciprocal tariffs affected several nations that host significant technology manufacturing industries.
[3]
[4]
Washington imposed 36 percent tariffs on Thailand, 32 percent on Taiwan, 25 percent on South Korea, and 24 percent on Japan and Malaysia. Rising tech manufacturing powers Vietnam and India wore import duties of 46 percent and 27 percent respectively.
The US later paused introduction of the tariffs until August 1st to allow time for further negotiations.
[5]
On Thursday, the administration [6]announced its new tariff rates, which resulted in reduced tariff rates for tech-producing nations listed in the table below.
Nation
New tariff
↑/↓
India
25%
↓2%
Malaysia
19%
↓5%
Indonesia
19%
↓13%
Japan
15%
↓10%
South Korea
15%
↓12%
Taiwan
20%
↓12%
Thailand
19%
↓13%
Vietnam
20%
↓26%
The administration’s announcement did not include China, as talks between Washington and Beijing continue.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry [7]welcomed the tariff reduction, saying it was the result of “sustained engagement” with the US and “roughly tracks” rates imposed on imports from other countries in the region. The Reg has seen reports of similar responses from other regional governments, although few are entirely happy, as even these reduced tariffs are higher than import duties charged by the US before the second Trump administration took office.
The stated intent of the tariff policy is to encourage manufacturing in the USA, and therefore to grow employment in the sector, while increasing the federal government’s income, a combination of outcomes that President Trump says will see the USA enter “a new golden age.”
[8]India gets its turn on the Trump tariff train: 25% levy to start Friday
[9]Trump pushes EU into trade 'deal' that several EU leaders aren't happy about
[10]Tariffs and trade turmoil driving up cost and build times for datacenters
[11]Folks aren’t buying the PCs that US vendors stockpiled to dodge tariffs
Others aren’t so sure.
US Bureau of Labor Statistics [12]data suggests manufacturing jobs continue to decline.
On July 29, think tank the Tax Foundation [13]predicted the tariff policy will create over $2 trillion in government revenue by 2034 but reduce US GDP by 0.8 percent, figures that will improve under the lighter tariffs announced on Thursday.
[14]
However Yale University’s Budget Lab [15]points out that the new tariff rates represent “the equivalent of a 16.0 percentage point increase in the US average effective tariff rate,” and “imply an increase in consumer prices of 1.8% in the short-run.”
The Lab also believes that the tariffs will shrink the US economy by 0.4 percent over time, and that while they will cause manufacturing output to increase other sectors will shrink. ®
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/04/02/us_tariffs_liberation_day_announcement/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aIyQOtVLpITvPuNhV1AyLwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aIyQOtVLpITvPuNhV1AyLwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aIyQOtVLpITvPuNhV1AyLwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aIyQOtVLpITvPuNhV1AyLwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/further-modifying-the-reciprocal-tariff-rates/
[7] https://www.facebook.com/MITIMalaysia/posts/pfbid0w2BvLqopiTHZWQukCqgLQ12cSTKAfjAjKzKcnH1wcWo9oUxFXKG85po9HgE2vJHWl
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/30/trump_tariffs_india/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/28/trump_eu_trade_deal/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/03/tariffs_and_trade_turmoil_driving/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/01/pc_united_states_shipping_figs/
[12] https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/
[13] https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aIyQOtVLpITvPuNhV1AyLwAAAEI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/state-us-tariffs-july-30-2025
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
We were stuffed the moment they voted this guy back into office despite having committed the worst possible crime against the US Constitution.
Here's a simple, basic question: what value does any agreement have in a country where law and law enforcement has been replaced by the whims of a petulant child? Even if you negotiate some sort of agreement or contract, it's neither robust nor enforceable from you side because the courts are in his pockets. If you have any competition they can simply sponsor the guy via the many ways he set up to enrich him and your agreement is void. Or if the weather changes. Or if his wife slaps his hand again in public. Or if you ask too many questions about Epstein.
The good that is coming from this is that finally nations have realised they need to cut their dependency and, for instance, start reducing the blackmail exercised via the US Dollar. Wow, it only took, what? Six decades or so?
Trust is the one asset you cannot buy or replace quickly when you have damaged it, and the wannabe king is burning it faster than their remaining fossil fuel. You can see that in the declining obligation market which tends to be a good indicator.
The Commander-in-Cheeto appears to base his policies on whatever he's watched on Fox News that morning, and makes decisions depending on who last spoke to him.
Give it a week or so and we'll have another TACO scenario as the tarrifs change yet again.
Lyndon Johnson once observed "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
MAGA proves the same is still true today.
Want to feel rich?
Go live among people who are poorer.
Want to feel poor? Go live among the richer.
Want to feel smart? Mingle with the stupid.
Here we meet the snag. What if you are so stupid, you cannot find enough more stupid people to fill a white house? Then your only tactic is to divert the attention.
Nah, there's panic right now because replacing short term lost revenue is hard, but focus will pivot from the US and the world will carry on
The US can't do without the rest of the world, but the rest of the world will be fine without the US
A comedian once described this sort of politics as sado-maso politics. Politicians don't promise to improve things, they mere promise that others will have it worse than their voters.
We're stuffed, but others are even more so.