TAIPEI/PALO ALTO, California — Ever since Donald Trump was elected president back in November, the world’s biggest electronics brands had been asking their suppliers in Asia to ramp up production and ship more smartphones, laptops and servers to the U.S.
Those efforts, aimed at avoiding expected tariffs when Trump took office, were kicked into a higher — and more chaotic — gear last week when the president dropped a bomb on global trade: “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50% on trading partners. Given just days to grapple with the punishing hikes, companies including Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Lenovo pressed suppliers to fly as many premium devices to the U.S. as possible, particularly computers priced at more than $3,000.
