4 major tech firms in the United States have written a last-minute letter to the USTR (U.S Trade Representative). The letter proposed to exclude them from a supposed round of tariffs on Chinese imports of 200 billion U.S dollars. Cisco, Dell, Juniper Networks, and Hewlett Packard have warned that the new tariffs will boost up the cost of items they are buying from China, and it will result in job losses in the United States. These firms said in a letter forwarded to Robert Lighthizer of USTR on Thursday. The letter further indicated that a sudden rise in the prices will also stagnate improvements essential to the U.S government, like cloud computing and the launch of 5G networks. It is important that these 4 tech companies provide equipment to other tech companies, the government, schools, and other institutions.
The tech companies also indicated that a significant amount of decrease in profits could freeze hiring over time. It will also be harmful to investors such as decreased dividends and erosion of shareholder value. The last drop attempt in securing an exemption comes as the consultation period for the proposed tariffs come to an end. It means that the news mechanisms could take place very soon. The U.S President Donald Trump enhanced his trade war with China in July when he announced that the U.S administration has planned to impose tariffs on Chinese goods of 200 billion U.S dollars and more than 25%. It is almost the half of the U.S imports from its major trading partner. This move took place when Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on 34 billion U.S dollars of Chinese imports during July and more 16 billion U.S dollars in August. Beijing also responded and imposed 25% import taxes on the U.S goods worth more than 50 billion U.S dollars.