The Consumer Technology Association has put a price tag on the Trump administration's goal of making consumer tech entirely in the US. For 10 product categories, full reshoring by 2031 would require $185–$230 billion in capital expenditure, 555,000–668,000 additional full-time employees, and 19.1–19.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. The labor demand alone would more than double the existing US computer and electronics manufacturing workforce.
Smartphones would be the hardest hit. The CTA estimates that fully manufacturing a smartphone in the US would raise costs by 152% under current tariffs, with laptops up 93%, smartwatches 97%, and TVs 41%. If companies pass on 25–50% of added costs, the weighted average price increase across the 10 products would be 27–55%. That could strain households already delaying tech purchases because of budget pressures.
The CTA argues a more realistic first step is to reshore only final assembly, not every component. That would cost $16–$19 billion, with smartphone costs rising 67% and laptops 50%. To make that work, the group recommends eliminating tariffs on components from trusted trading partners and allies, saying component tariffs raise US assembly costs and hurt the products consumers depend on most.