The current economic climate in the US is peculiar. With a tariff war going on, most notably between the United States and China, a variety of markets are going to see imported materials, products, and equipment skyrocket in price, nearly overnight. The effects will trickle down, since governments don’t pay tariffs. Importers do.
In the case of US carriers like T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, despite their gargantuan size, the bottom line is still the most important thing to them. These companies have to buy network equipment and also purchase phones that customers can buy, and those can be affected by tariffs. However, the carriers seem ready to pass those costs on to you.
As a business, the new tariffs imposed by the US government on other countries are likely to affect you in one way or another. While China might be the primary target of high import percentages, other production-heavy Asian countries, like Vietnam and India, are also dealing with relatively high numbers. That means that anything from clothes to plastic toys to high-end electronics will see significant price hikes.
If you live in the US, there’s a high chance that you don’t buy your phone unlocked, like in many other countries. Instead, you go straight to your carrier and buy the phone from them. These companies also import network hardware and other equipment that isn’t manufactured in the US. All of these are likely to increase in price due to tariffs (though rates have all been dropped to 10% until July, with the exception of China).
| Country | Current Tariff Rate | Previous Tariff Rate |
| China | 145% | 34% |
| European Union | 10% | 20% |
| Japan | 10% | 24% |
| Vietnam | 10% | 46% |
| India | 10% | 26% |
| Taiwan | 10% | 32% |
Since governments don’t pay the tariffs and US importers do, it means a product that costs $50 could soon cost $75. The problem with this is that companies will either have to absorb the costs and reduce their profit margins or pass the expenses onto their consumers. But let’s be real, while these companies might not mind absorbing a few dollars on a thousand-dollar device, they don’t care enough to take any more than that.
AT&T and Verizon CEOs Have Made Direct Statements to Confirm Passing on Tariffs
At the moment, tariffs on smartphones have been paused. That’s a good thing, but there’s no indication that they’ve been permanently exempted. It’s proactive for corporations to consider what they will do if these tariffs end up taking effect. AT&T and Verizon have indicated their strategies in such a scenario, thanks to a report from Bloomberg.
- AT&T’s CEO, John Stankey, has said that the company will opt for “taking that cost as we’ve traditionally done and largely moving it through to the end user.”
- Verizon’s CEO, Hans Vestberg, similarly mentioned that Verizon “will not cover any enormous increase on tariffs on handsets. That’s ultimately going to hit the consumer in the market.”
- T-Mobile is yet to make an official statement, though I doubt that its stance will be any difference. These companies are hardly trying to be heroes. We’ve asked T-Mobile for comment on its passing of tariff costs to consumers.
