The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has released a new report showing the dire consequences for American consumers if Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status for China is revoked, as some in Congress propose. Among the key findings in the report, titled “PNTR Revocation is a Recipe for Inflation”:
- U.S. consumer purchasing power would decrease by $30 billion;
- The price increases caused by PNTR revocation would result in 30% fewer purchases of smartphones and 26% fewer purchases of laptops and tablets.
“Some policymakers in Washington seem to think that revoking China’s normal trade relations status is a way to ‘stick it’ to China, but our report shows that they’d really be ‘sticking it’ to American consumers,” said Ed Brzytwa, CTA’s Vice President, International Trade. “Increasing tariffs on products from China would cause the prices that consumers pay for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and countless other products to skyrocket, and it would sink sales for countless American technology companies.”
The increases in tariffs applied to imports from China would in most cases be dramatic. For most widely used consumer technology products, U.S. tariffs on imports from China would rise from 0% to 35%. Smartphones, laptops, and tablets – spared from Section 301 tariffs due to the expected consumer harms – would see the biggest price increases. Some of the specific estimates included in CTA’s report:
- Prices for laptops and tablets would rise 21.6% and consumers would lose $13.8 billion in spending power;
- Smartphone prices would rise 15.7% and consumers would lose $12.5 billion in spending power;
- Prices for monitors would rise 11.7% and consumers would lose $2.3 billion in spending power.
“If Congress and other policymakers choose to take the plunge, they should know how cold the water may be in advance,” Brzytwa concluded. “This analysis shows it may be much colder than they think – or have been told by proponents of significantly raising tariffs on imports from China.”
You can view the full CTA report here.
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