GoPro is moving production out of China, citing tariff worries

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Dec. 10, 2018 / 6:15 PM GMT

By Lauren Feiner, CNBC

GoPro is pulling production for the U.S. market out of China to avoid being caught up in the Washington-Beijing trade war, the action camera company announced Monday.

Production will continue in China for non-U.S.-bound cameras, the company said. GoPro was down 1 percent in midday trading.

“Today’s geopolitical business environment requires agility, and we’re proactively addressing tariff concerns by moving most of our U.S.-bound camera production out of China,” said Brian McGee, executive vice president and chief financial officer of GoPro. “We believe this diversified approach to production can benefit our business regardless of tariff implications.”

The trade war between the U.S. and China has been escalating in recent months until a 90-day pause the White House said both countries’ leaders agreed to on Dec. 1.

GoPro said it owns the production equipment it uses to manufacture cameras, and relies on its manufacturing partner in China only for its facilities. Because of this, McGee said in a statement, “we expect to make this move at a relatively low cost.”