As you know, President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are impacting many tech companies, including Samsung. Thankfully, tariffs might not affect Samsung’s television business as much as they affect its rivals. The reason behind it is that the Korean firm produces most of the TVs sold in the North American market Mexicon, which has not attracted Trump’s new 10% global baseline tariff and higher “reciprocal tariffs.”
US tariffs won’t hurt Samsung’s TV business much
President Trump imposed a 10% baseline tariff on all countries — a standard 10% duty on goods imported from other countries to the US. This went into effect on April 5, 2025. However, the baseline rate did not apply to Canada and Mexico, major trading partners of the US. This is because of the USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) agreement between the three countries.
For these countries, USMCA-compliant goods will see a 0% tariff, while non-USMCA-compliant goods will see a 25% tariff. This is good news for Samsung, especially considering a big chunk of Samsung TVs sold in North America are manufactured in Mexico.
Samsung has maintained its top spot in the Global TV market for several years, though in recent years, it has been facing increasing competition from Chinese companies. And now, due to reciprocal tariffs, the company is concerned about its future in the industry. So, depending on tariffs, the company is planning to shift its production facilities across the world. “
Samsung, the world’s top TV maker, will continue to watch the changing U.S. tariff policy, and depending on tariffs, it plans to allocate production accordingly across about 10 production bases around the world”, said Yong Seok-woo, president of the visual display business at Samsung (via Reuters).
It is worth noting that only Samsung’s TV business will see less impact from the US tariff. Samsung is getting ready for the effects of US tariffs on its other products, like memory chips and smartphones, whose demand might decrease over time. The US government has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on South Korea, which could reduce Samsung’s profit margins on US sales. Samsung’s shares also recently dropped because of worries about US tariffs.
