Trump’s tariffs just broke the US laptop market -- Framework is the first casualty
Framework just pulled a couple laptops from its US store, and sadly, it’s for political reasons. You see, thanks to new tariffs launched by President Donald Trump, shoppers in the United States can no longer buy two base models of the company’s Laptop 13. The two impacted models are powered by Intel’s Ultra 5 125H and AMD’s Ryzen 5 7640U.
No, folks, this is not due to a supply chain issue or a production delay. Make no mistake -- according to a tweet, it’s simply economics fueled by government policy. In other words, Donald Trump’s tariffs are breaking the laptop market.
On April 5, new import tariffs took effect under Trump’s declaration of a national emergency. The move slapped a ten percent tax on goods coming in from Taiwan, and that’s where Framework sources key components. The company had originally priced these laptops when there was zero percent tariff -- selling these machines at the current price would mean losing money on every unit.
Framework made the situation clear in a follow-up post on X. Understandably, the company says it would rather pause sales than take a loss. Framework claims other tech companies are facing the same dilemma and taking similar actions. The difference is most of them aren’t saying it out loud.
This isn’t just about Framework, sadly. It’s truly a warning sign. Trump’s tariffs are likely to lead to price hikes, product shortages, and less choice for consumers across the board. If budget-friendly laptops like these are already disappearing, what happens when higher-end gear gets hit too?
As of now, there’s no word on when these models will return to the US site. Framework says the pause is temporary, but that doesn’t mean short-term. It could be weeks or months. Hell, it could be never.
Outside the United States, nothing has changed. Customers in other countries can still buy the same laptops without any interruptions. But for Americans, Trump’s tariffs are already making tech less accessible. Framework was just the first to say it publicly. Others are probably next.