Computer & Peripheral Manufacturers NAICS 3341

Jan 6, 2026 - Trump Administration Considers Tariff Options

• The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are legal. Computer and peripheral manufacturers are likely to benefit if the cost of goods imported from countries that were hit with tariffs decreases. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled earlier that President Trump overstepped his authority when he declared national emergencies to justify tariffs on many countries. The Trump administration can use other laws to impose duties on goods from other countries if the tariffs are ruled illegal. The administration will most likely rely on Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 and Section 232 of the 1962 Trade Expansion Act to recreate Trump's tariffs, experts told Business Insider. Section 301 allows the US to place tariffs on goods from countries if they "either violated international trade law or otherwise acted unfairly," according to Rachel Brewster, a professor of international trade at Duke Law School. The law includes provisions that allow the president to form trade deals with other countries to resolve the unfair trade practices, so the deals Trump already struck could likely be "folded into" Section 301, Brewster said. Section 232 allows the president to impose tariffs on goods determined to be a national security threat. Trump has already applied it to goods ranging from aluminum to bathroom vanities, according to Business Insider.
• Tech giants including Nvidia, Apple, and IBM have announced major investments in US manufacturing facilities. IBM pledged to invest $150 billion in the US, including on facilities for quantum computer production, over the next five years. Nvidia and Apple have said they would spend about $500 billion each in the country over the next four years. Several analysts told the New York Post that they see the spending commitments as overtures to President Trump, whose tariffs could affect supply chains and raise costs for the technology industry.

• Computer and peripheral manufacturers benefiting from reshoring may also benefit from nearshoring, according to the Reshoring Initiative (RI). Harry Moser, founder of RI, says that if a product is so labor intensive that you can’t bring it to the US, then companies are sometimes surprised to find that wages in Mexico are far lower than in China. The average Mexican manufacturing worker earns $4 an hour, while the rate in China — where wages have been gaining 10% to 15% a year — is currently around $7, and in the US, it’s roughly $23. Products coming from Mexico end up with an average 40% US content, while in China they have 5% US content.
• Computer and peripheral manufacturing industry employment and wages for nonsupervisory employees increased slightly during the first nine months of 2025, according to the BLS. Computer and peripheral equipment industry sales increased 24.1% year over year and 2.3% quarter over quarter over quarter during the second quarter of 2025, according to the US Census Bureau. Computer and peripheral manufactures increased prices slightly during the first nine months of 2025, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).