The latest tariff hikes by the US on Chinese goods from 10% to 25% will not have significant impacts on Taiwan's US-bound shipments of motherboards and graphics cards, according to industry sources.
Major players in the segment, including Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI), Gigabyte Technology, ASRock, and Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), said they were already taking counter measures to mitigate the impacts, including passing the increased costs on to clients, when the tariffs hiked by 10% earlier.
Asustek co-CEO Samson Hu said that the company has already relocated the product lines affected by the increased tariffs from China to Vietnam or back Taiwan since 2018.
Since US-bound shipments currently account for only 10-15% of Asustek's total shipments of motherboards and graphics cards, the impacts of the latest tariff hikes remain limited, Hu said.
Gigabyte also indicated the impact will be small as US sales account for about 10% of its total shipments of related products. The company also revealed that it has been ramping up the ratios of motherboards and graphics produced in Taiwan.
In addition to passing on the increased tariffs to clients, MSI said it has no plans to relocate its production lines since the company still has sufficient production capacity in Taiwan.
However, most of the makers believe demand for motherboards and graphics, particularly from the DIY segment, will be further undermined by the ongoing trade disputes between the US and China, affecting their sales in the second half of 2019.
