News / Hi-tech keeps flying, but tariffs are driving shipper production out of China

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Laptop manufacturers and retailers have been forced to adapt their supply chains in the wake of US tariff policy on steel and aluminium, according to a recent report by S&P Global, with air carrier schedules to follow.  

S&P data indicates that diversification from mainland China for US-bound tech “has been a long-term trend for both Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Lenovo”, with total mainland China exports of laptops to the US down 47.6% year on year in April, while exports to the EU rose 5.5%, and those to the rest of the world were up 16%. 

This was further exacerbated by the March expansion of the number of products covered under the US duty section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium. Exports to the US fell by 14.4% in the first four months of 2025 compared with the same period of 2017. 

“Manufacturers and retailers of laptop computers have had to deal with a rapidly shifting set of tariffs in 2025. After facing an initial round of IEEPA country-based tariffs, they received an exemption while the Section 232 review of electronics continues,” said S&P Global.  

HP reported increased “production coming from Vietnam, Thailand, India, Mexico, and the US” and expects “literally all” production for the US to come from outside mainland China. 

Stanislas Brun, chief cargo officer at Etihad Airways, told The Loadstar on the sidelines of Air Cargo Europe that Etihad’s export volumes from China was “a mix of ecommerce, hi-tech and industrial”.  

“When you look at China, it’s a mix. If you look at Vietnam, it’s not ecommerce, it’s mostly hi-tech… Vietnam is a growing destination,” he said. 

In its summer schedule, Etihad Cargo has opened a fifth weekly freighter out of Hanoi, plus additional passenger aircraft. 

Marco Bloemen, MD of air cargo strategy consultancy and market data company Aevean, told The Loadstar that the US imported an additional 8,000 tonnes of laptops from Vietnam in March and April this year – the equivalent of roughly 1.5 wide-body freighters per day. Total laptop and smartphone US air import tonnage from China dropped 70% in April when compared with the previous year. 

UPS announced today that it had nearly doubled its air freight capacity between Delhi and its European air hub in Cologne, Germany, “to meet growing export demand from Indian businesses”. The flight also facilitates connections to the US. 

Meanwhile, tech giant Apple has previously announced intentions to ramp up manufacturing in India. Chinese laptop maker Lenovo said it could “finish the adjustment to shift the capacity from one location to another” in a matter of weeks, due to having facilities in more than 10 countries.  

And it’s not just manufacturing locations that have been spun by recent tariffs – the US consumer market has also taken a demand hit.   

Richard Forson, CEO of Cargolux, told The Loadstar on the sidelines of Air Cargo Europe in Munich last week: “Laptops, anything that’s hi-tech, have been imported to the US from China, going through Hong Kong, also Zhengzhou, another hub where they have licensing for the US.” 

But he said: “The tariffs had a particular impact [on exports] out of China, including Hong Kong, to the US. 

“Hi-tech continues to fly.. we’ve taken out certain frequencies, but compensated in other areas into Europe, and put additional frequencies into South America.” .  

Ashwin Bhat, CEO of Lufthansa Cargo, told The Loadstar: “We cannot put all the eggs in one basket.

“The transpacific was heavily impacted due to the ecommerce drop in the US, but we have just one freighter service over the Pacific… We manage it because we didn’t start that capacity just for ecommerce. It was for hi-tech, pharmaceuticals and ecommerce.”