- NSR's Levin said the new tariffs will lead to doubt for tech companies
- Companies will need to "muddle through" unless Congress makes a decision
- New tariffs will not provide incentive for companies to reshore to the U.S., Levin said
Analysts tell Fierce that the latest tariff moves instill uncertainty and doubt in both U.S. and European tech companies.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration's emergency tariffs on multiple countries by a 6-3 vote on Friday. Trump struck back by putting a 15% global tariff on countries and companies worldwide for 150 days.
"We face a long period of uncertainty, which will suppress investment and economic growth," New Street Research (NSR) policy advisor Blair Levin told Fierce.
Bader Al Sarraf, research analyst at Standard Chartered, said on LinkedIn that the SCOTUS ruling "introduces short-term procedural uncertainty before a more structured tariff framework re-emerges."
Cisco, HPE, Intel, Qualcomm and other American companies will not have time or motivation to move factories back to America. "The new tariffs will expire in about five months," NSR's Levin continued. "So it will not provide any incentive to reshore in the U.S. nor any leverage in any long-term deal negotiation."
This will mean that companies will need to "muddle through" and hope that Congress decides to decide the issue, Levin said.
"Any benefit Intel, Qualcomm, Cisco, Ericsson, or Nokia might get from [the SCOTUS] ruling could quickly evaporate," said Daryl Schoolar, analyst at Recon Analytics. "However, those vendors had already taken measure to mitigate most of the pain of tariffs."
Indeed, ever since the initial Trump "liberation day" tariffs on April 2, mitigation in the face of uncertainty has been the game. Companies have been trying to fix supply chains and sourcing as much as they can.
As Ericsson CFO, Lars Sandstrom, said during his company's 2nd quarter 2025 call. "We have not made any firm decisions given the uncertainty in what's actually going to happen."
This will remain true until the 150-day deadline is up on the renewed 15% Trump global tariffs. The clock, however, is ticking.