"Mexico, Vietnam, and Thailand TV Assembly Plants Benefit from US-China Trade Conflict"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Since the era of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the U.S.-China trade conflict has led to significant benefits for TV assembly plants located in Mexico, Vietnam, and Thailand within the display-related industry, according to an analysis.

On the 26th, according to DSCC, a display-focused market research firm, among the countries from which the U.S. imports TVs, the volume from China in the third quarter of this year decreased by 53% compared to the third quarter of 2019. In contrast, the volume of TVs imported from Mexico and Vietnam increased by 38% and 88%, respectively, during the same period, while Thailand saw a remarkable 934% expansion.

DSCC analyzed that during former President Trump's administration, as the U.S.-China trade conflict intensified, TVs?being the only final products embedded with displays?were subjected to harsh tariffs, which led to a reduction in the volume of Chinese-made TVs imported into the U.S.

In September 2019, amid the trade war with China, former President Trump initially decided to impose tariffs on Chinese products, applying a 15% tariff on Chinese-made TVs. This was later eased to 7.5% under the Phase One agreement, but since TVs imported from other major countries were subject to a 3.9% tariff, the additional tariffs caused significant impact on China.

According to DSCC, before the tariffs were implemented, in the first half of 2019, the share of Chinese-made TVs among TVs imported into the U.S. exceeded 50%, but by the third quarter of this year, it had sharply dropped to 17%. For TVs larger than 45 inches, the share decreased from over 40% to 13% during the same period.

Bob O'Brien, an analyst at DSCC, explained, "The main beneficiaries of the trade war were the TV assembly plants in Mexico, Vietnam, and Thailand," adding, "Mexico was able to export TVs to the U.S. tariff-free under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)." However, he noted, "For products other than TVs, such as laptops, tablets, and monitors, China still led the supply chain, and for smartphones, the import share of Chinese-made products was an overwhelming 78% in the third quarter of this year," further adding, "Monitors accounted for over 80%, and PCs exceeded 90%."