Tariff uncertainty weighs on networking vendors

“Our guide assumes current tariffs and exemptions remain in place through the quarter. These include the following: China at 30%, partially offset by an exemption for semiconductors and certain electronic components; Mexico and Canada at 25% for the components and products that are not eligible for the current exemptions,” Cisco CFO Scott Herron told Wall Street analysts in the company’s quarterly earnings report on May 14.

At this time, Cisco expects little impact from tariffs on steel and aluminum and retaliatory tariffs, Herron said. “We’ll continue to leverage our world-class supply chain team to help mitigate the impact,” he said, adding that “the flexibility and agility we have built into our operations over the last few years, the size and scale of our supply chain, provides us some unique advantages as we support our customers globally.”

“Once the tariff scenario stabilizes, there [are] steps that we can take to mitigate it, as you’ve seen us do with China from the first Trump administration. And only after that would we consider price [increases],” Herron said.

Similarly, Extreme Networks noted the changing tariff conditions during its earnings call on April 30.

“The tariff situation is very dynamic, I think, as everybody knows and can appreciate, and it’s kind of hard to call. Yes, there was concern initially given the magnitude of tariffs,” said Extreme Networks CEO Ed Meyercord on the earnings call. “The larger question is, will all of the changes globally in trade and tariff policy have an impact on demand? And that’s hard to call at this point. And we’re going to hold as far as providing guidance or judgment on that until we have finality come July.”

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Meanwhile, AI is fueling high expectations and influencing investments in enterprise campus and data center environments.