US tech firms ask Trump for Chinese tariff exemptions in ongoing trade war
US tech giants have asked President Donald Trump’s administration for an exemption from new tariffs against China.
With President Donald Trump set to reveal a fresh tranche of tariffs targeting $200bn (£154.6bn) of Chinese exports, Cisco, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks urged the White House to whitelist components behind some of their products.
Read more: China threatens to retaliate if Trump imposes fresh tariffs
Those include networking products, and related hardware like hard drives and smart cards, which the firms described as a “critical segment” of their product portfolios in their letter to US Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer.
They rely on Chinese components to build many of these products, meaning tariffs would force product prices up, and even lead to job losses.
“If USTR were to impose a 10-25 per cent additional duty on networking products and accessories, it would cause broad, disproportionate economic harm to US interests, including our companies and US workers, our customers, US consumers, and broader US economic and strategic priorities," the letter said.
The firms warned that the tariffs could result in them losing market-share abroad to foreign rivals, and with less cash to fund research and development into new technologies like 5G and cloud computing.
“Over time the reduced profits that the duties could cause could lead to hiring freezes, stagnant wages, and even job losses, as well as harm to investors such as reduced dividends and erosion of shareholder value,” the letter added.
The fresh round of tariffs could come into effect today, after a deadline passed for firms to have their say on the proposals.
Read more: China vows to continue retaliatory tariffs against Trump's US
Recent low-level talks between the countries failed to prevent a previous round of tariffs being introduced as the talks ended, with the US introducing 25 per cent tax on $16bn of Chinese goods last month.
Trump said earlier this week that the US would not make a deal that is favourable to China.
"We'll continue to talk to China," he said. "I have great respect for President Xi [Jinping]. … But right now, we just can't make that deal."