The news: Despite President Donald Trump’s tariff reversal for most countries, major PC and gaming companies are reacting to a 145% duty on Chinese imports.

• HP, Dell, Lenovo, and others are suspending US shipments for two weeks, per Commercial Times.
• Framework is pausing US sales on its low-priced laptops and Razer removed the option for US consumers to preorder its upcoming Blade 16 computers.
• Nintendo is delaying preorders for its long-awaited Switch 2, which may see prices increase to compensate for tariffs.

Key stats: As tariffs ripple through global supply chains, companies are deciding how much of the costs they’ll put on shoppers, while consumers are divided on whether price hikes are worth potential changes in national policy.

• 30% of global CFOs said they would pass 91% to 100% of tariff costs on to their customers, per Gartner.
• 32% of US adults think it’s fair for companies to pass tariff costs along to shoppers, per Ipsos, and 37% said those price hikes would be worth it to get what we want as a country.

The risk: Even though about one-third of the country is okay with tariff costs affecting them, it's a gamble for companies to import those products.

• If consumers change their mind about purchases once a higher sticker price is in front of them, companies are left with goods they can’t sell and could be forced to swallow the tariff entirely.
• “If they don’t want to bear the taxes, we cannot ship the products,” said an executive at an Asian memory chip manufacturer who asked to remain anonymous, per Reuters.

Our take: Absorbing part of the tariff costs to keep prices stable could preserve customer loyalty in the long run, as will being transparent about the exact portion of duties that are being passed on within price hikes.

However, with the unclear future of tariff rates, suspending exports to the US might be the safest bet to reduce losses. Companies with existing inventory or operational manufacturing plants outside of China could benefit from these shipment pauses.

This content is part of EMARKETER’s subscription Briefings, where we pair daily updates with data and analysis from forecasts and research reports. Our Briefings prepare you to start your day informed, to provide critical insights in an important meeting, and to understand the context of what’s happening in your industry. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.