Tell us how a U.S.-China trade war would affect your design projects

By Richard Quinnell, editor-in-chief

The recently announced U.S. move to impose tariffs on as much as $60 billion in imports from China, China’s response, and the rhetoric surrounding both have stirred fears of an all-out trade war between the two countries. The widespread use in electronics development projects of microcontroller and wireless modules made in China suggests that such a trade war could have a significant impact on developers. Electronic Products would like to hear your thoughts and ideas on how significant that impact might be.

According to Census Bureau data published in the New York Times, some 46% of computers and electronics and 38% of electrical equipment imported into the U.S. comes from China. If those goods are subjected to stiff tariffs or are restricted in any way, the impact on electronics development in the U.S. could be severe. A lot of projects start with inexpensive microcontroller modules that the Chinese supply.

Despite the announcements, though, nothing has yet changed for electronics developers. We don’t know, for instance, what specific Chinese goods will be affected by the new tariffs — the U.S. expects to release that list within the next two weeks. Furthermore, there is likely to be some inventory already in stock in the U.S. when tariffs go into effect, so there is currently a calm before the feared coming storm. Also, the announcement of tariffs is only one step in a process aimed at adjusting the U.S.-China trade relationship that may be resolved without the actual implementation of tariffs. So, the whole thing may blow over without any impact at all.

But it seems worth at least thinking about the possibility and do some initial planning for it. The questions below reflect some of the issues that developers might want to be prepared to address. They call for an assessment of project exposure, examine the potential of alternatives, and look at possible ramifications of a U.S.-China trade war on project development. Even if you don’t actually fill out our survey, it would be worth your while to ask yourself these questions.

But please do fill it out. The Google Forms survey below will allow you to give us your anonymous answers to these questions. We will then report back to you on the results.