As Tariffs Loomed on Chinese Smartphones, US Importers Turned Toward Vietnam in November
U.S. smartphone importers abruptly shifted more sourcing toward Vietnam and less from China in November, the last full month before the scheduled imposition of 15 percent List 4B Section 301 tariffs on Chinese handsets, according to newly released Census Bureau data accessed Jan. 9 through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb tool. The Trump administration suspended the List 4B tariffs Dec. 13, less than 48 hours before they were to take effect, after reaching a phase one trade deal with China.
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China was the source of 73.7 percent of the 21.11 million smartphones imported to the U.S. from all countries in November, DataWeb said. China’s November share declined 5.8 points sequentially from October and was down 6.7 points from its 80.4 percent share in November 2018, it said.
The U.S. imported 4.6 million smartphones from Vietnam in November, a 21.1 percent increase sequentially from October and a stunning 65.2 percent jump from November 2018, DataWeb said. Vietnam was the source of 21.6 percent of all November smartphone imports to the U.S., up from 16.7 percent in October and from 12.4 percent in November 2018, it said.
Vietnam was a haven for commoditized smartphones compared with those from China, DataWeb said. Vietnamese smartphones were imported to the U.S. in November at an average customs value of $151.73, about 47 percent less costly than the average Chinese import, it said.
November smartphone imports to the U.S. from all countries declined 6.4 percent sequentially from October and were down 5.1 percent from November 2018, DataWeb said. Total smartphone unit imports for 2019's first 11 months were 196.46 million, down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, it said. The U.S. imported $50.58 billion worth of smartphones from all countries in 11 months, a 5 percent decline from 2018, DataWeb said.