Msg: 2384 *Conference*
04-16-92 12:30:28
From: JIM SAMUEL
To : STEPHEN MELCHER
Subj: REPLY TO MSG #2375 (GOVERMENT KILLS 102??)
Stephen....actually, what your friend told you is the reverse. In the past, this country imposed a tariff on finished laptop computers but not on the components. As a result, Toshiba set up an assembly plant in the US, and American companies assembled their laptops here. Then, in 1991, the US government changed its regs. They lifted the tariff on assembled laptops and imposed a hefty tariff on LCD screens, but only when the screens were imported as components. This was to save the US LCD screen industry (of which there are no companies supplying the PC market). The tariff does not apply to LCD screens that are imported as part of a complete laptop PC. The end result: Toshiba closed its US assmebly plant and IBM is moving to move its production overseas ASAP.