US will foot the bill for international tariffs, CTA predicts

The Consumer Technology Association is slamming President Donald Trump's plans to impose higher tariffs on imported Mexican goods.

CTA President Gary Shaprio issued a statement on Friday calling the plan "shortsighted" and "short-tempered" and lacking the economic understanding that "tariffs are taxes." Most importantly, Shapiro said, American families, workers and companies would pay the price.

Shapiro, who's organization runs the annual CES gadget show and represents the US consumer technology industry, said Mexico is one of the US' top trading partners and responsible for $41 billion in US consumer tech sector goods in 2017 and almost double that of the next-highest export market.

"If Mexico reciprocates with tariffs of its own, our country's employers and workers will end up paying twice over for the administration's misguided trade policies," he said.

Shapiro's thinking seems to be in line with Chinese tech giant, Huawei. The company is railing against the US ban.   

"Today it's telecoms and Huawei . Tomorrow it could be your industry, your company, your consumers," Huawei Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping said in an emailed statement.

The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Last November, Trump suggested a 10% tax on phones and laptops built in China. The move would potentially increase the price of some phones and computers. The August prior, Huawei's FusionHome solar panels were due to launch in the US by the end of summer 2019, but the administration's 25% tariff made the panels markedly less budget-friendly.  

Most recently, Democratic FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the tariff hike on Chinese goods would slow the US rollout of 5G. On May 10, the commissioner tweeted that the tariff was "a 25% tax on the future of technology."

Watch this: AutoComplete: Chinese tariffs on US vehicles going away, says Trump tweet

01:21