We were wondering if the whole tariff war thing would have any effect on our minions in the industry in the UK and for consumers, and there’s a clear answer: we don’t know. We’ll explain that.
You see, parts especially can be made virtually anywhere and, in serious bad news for the good ol’ US of A, a huge amount of them are made in China, Turkey etc and Europe. With Trump levying massive tariffs to those regions that is not good for US consumers.
Meanwhile, it’s easy to think that we in Europe will be spared because we’re not in the USA and not subject to Trump’s whims on tariffs. But, whilst that is true, the producers of the parts still have to make enough to survive and, if they lose a huge chunk of business and cash as they can’t supply the USA then someone else has to pick up the tab.
That’s likely to be us. The people that they are actually doing business with.
Consider also the raw materials. Trump has already levied tariffs on those and that might well affect prices we see in Europe but, for the time being at least, this is unknown (a) if it will and (b) if it does by how much.
But for Americans who own appliances that need parts or want to buy appliances using parts sourced outside the USA, these tariffs are a disaster.
Just think about a lowly washing machine drain pump for a machine in the USA that was about £30 worth but it’s made in China. Now that is liable to have a 104% tariff on it making it cost over £60 and that’s before the hassle factor is costed in. Though even by the time this article has been published let alone a day, week or month down the road, hell knows what the tariff might be!
This could lead to American consumers deciding (if they’re not forced) to buy a new one, though goodness knows if that’d be the cheaper option, only adding to the environmental costs, never mind the financial ones.
And that gets us into the new appliances.
Makers will have the same problems as car producers in that parts are sourced from all over the globe, assembled in various places, and all too often where the labour (or economic headwinds) make it make sense.
So, a huge number of machines sold into the US are made in Mexico, for example, as it’s cheaper labour-wise and relatively local, making shipping into the US cheaper.
Fortunately for we peasants here in Blightly, the vast bulk of appliances and parts do not come from the USA so it’s not likely to affect us too much, though we may see some price hikes, they shouldn’t be severe if we see any at all.
However, we have to insert a HUGE caveat here, it depends. If trump does something mental (or anyone else for that matter) then it’s possible that this all escalates and we do see sharp effects.
It’s complex; global supply chains are and there are many moving parts (no pun intended), and that is why we said back at the start that there’s no clear answer here. The dust hasn’t settled enough to offer one.
