By Wen-Yee Lee and Che Pan
TAIPEI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Apple supplier Luxshare is in talks with customers on ways to respond to U.S. tariffs by shifting more production outside China, including the United States, its chairwoman told analysts in a telephone call on Wednesday.
The remarks by the Chinese company, which assembles iPhones and makes AirPods, provide a glimpse into deliberations by companies around the world scrambling to tackle President Donald Trump’s tariffs that took effect on Wednesday.
In a transcript of the call seen by Reuters, Wang Laichun said the tariffs would have little impact on profits and revenue, as Luxshare exported only a small amount of finished products to the United States.
But it needed to consider more investment abroad and idling some investment plans in China, she said during the call that stretched more than an hour.
“If there is a commercial guarantee and we are able to conduct a good evaluation, we do not rule out having some products being localised to meet the needs of the U.S. market,”
Wang added.
Luxshare had told some customers it would need such guarantees in response to their queries about the possibility of providing some services in North America for products made with a significant degree of automation, she said.
“But for this step, we will also weigh some long-term development and safety considerations.”
Suppliers to Apple, which is seen as having huge exposure to Trump’s tariffs, do not tend to comment publicly on the U.S. firm and Wang did not identify Apple or any customers during the call.
Luxshare did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to factories in China, Luxshare has production bases and research centers in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the United States and Mexico.
Apart from supplying Apple, it designs and makes electronic devices such as routers, wireless charging modules and video conferencing equipment.
Wang said Luxshare was considering greater investment in Southeast Asia, but did not say where.
Production of consumer electronics is unlikely to move away from Vietnam unless the tariffs it faced were 10% greater than those on products from other countries, since its industrial infrastructure and talent pool were relatively mature.
A large exporter to the United States and one to which several Chinese manufacturers, including Luxshare, have expanded in recent years, Vietnam was hit with a hefty 46% tariff, versus 36% for Thailand and 24% for Malaysia.
The Vietnamese government is negotiating with Washington over the tariffs.
Luxshare was not considering expanding into India but would consider doing so if customers made special requests, Wang said.
The company needed 1 to 1-1/2 years to build and start up a new production line in places where it already had a factory, she said.
Asked if tariffs would be borne jointly by businesses in the supply chain and end consumers, Wang said:
“To date, all hardware manufacturers do not foot the bill for tariffs or logistics warehousing … Nothing like this has ever happened and I think it will be the same in future.”
But she acknowledged concerns that customers would seek lower prices because of the tariffs, adding, “Customers have always collaborated with suppliers on how to enhance competitiveness.”
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee in Taipei and Che Pan in Beijing; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Comments