Smart home device manufacturers are bracing for chaos — again
President Donald Trump’s latest round of tariffs — including a now 125 percent levy on Chinese imports — will hit the smart home industry hard.
Many smart home device makers are already struggling, thanks, in part, to Trump’s first round of tariffs. Increased competition from budget smart home companies largely based in China has also played a part, and so has slower takeup from homeowners than the industry expected.
Smart home control panel maker Brilliant cited tariffs and supply chain issues along with weaker-than-expected demand when it was close to shutting down last year. This year, robot vacuum maker iRobot announced it has struggled in the face of increasing competition as cheaper products from China flood the US market.
The sky-high tariffs on Chinese goods and components present a huge challenge for all smart home manufacturers. Most companies source products from China, and even if they moved manufacturing to other countries, they still may use Chinese-made components. The new, steeper tariffs on countries like Vietnam, where many companies relocated manufacturing, compound their problems.
Despite the just-announced 90-day pause on tariffs from “non-reta …