Prior to January 20, CTA released a very well received and widely cited report conducted by the Trade Partnership Worldwide LLC (TPW) on the potential impact of the President’s campaign promises regarding tariffs. The current report, also conducted by TPW, assesses the impact of his actual tariffs on the technology products purchased every day by Americans, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, connected devices, video game consoles, monitors and computer accessories.

The President’s tariffs on the ten consumer tech product imports in our report will reduce American consumers’ purchasing power by $123 billion. They will cause significant price increases for U.S. consumers.

For example, the average retail price will increase for:

• Smartphones by 31%;
• Monitors by 32%;
• Laptops and tablets by 34%; and
• Video game consoles by 69%.

TPW aims to help policy makers understand the potential impacts on American families of Trump’s tariffs proposals. The TPW study focused on ten consumer technology products categories found in nearly every home across the United States.

The new report models a scenario in which:

• The 90-day pause on reciprocal tariff ends, and reciprocal rates—ranging from 11 to 46%—are reinstated on all eligible products.
• 25% tariffs – but no reciprocal rates -- are imposed on the products subject to the Section 232 investigation launched in the April 15 order.
• The 20% IEEPA tariff on China remains in place and stacks on top of the 125% on China, when applicable, or the 25% Section 232 tariff, leading to an effective 145% or 45% tariff on imports from China.
• The 25% IEEPA tariffs on products that do not claim duty free treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement remain in place and stack on the Section 25% tariff, leading to an effective 50% tariff on non-USMCA claiming products subject to the investigation.
• The Section 301 tariff increase on lithium-ion batteries from 7.5% to 25%, announced by the Biden administration, takes effect as scheduled on January 1, 2026.
• Trading partners do not retaliate.

Hard-nosed and fact-based analysis is necessary for policymakers to consider the merits of these proposals. It’s not enough to say we disagree with them. We are proud to publish this research and encourage policymakers, analysts, and stakeholders to read our study.

Published: May 2025

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