Relations between America and China have not been great as of late, and a drawn-out trade war between the two may be on the horizon. Both countries have imposed tariffs recently, and because of this, GoPro has decided it will be moving production of their cameras out of China.
Taking a “better safe than sorry” approach, GoPro has announced that production of their U.S-bound cameras would be mostly removed from China by the summer of 2019. In a press release, GoPro CFO Brian McGee stated that taking a diversified approach to the production of their cameras is a sound business move, regardless of whether or not GoPro is affected by any future tariffs.
The move is definitely a smart one, as GoPro has had a fairly rough year. Back in Jaunary, the company laid off several hundred employees, exited the drone business, and saw their stock prices drop by 1/3rd after the announcement of their restructuring plan. The last thing that they need is to see their profit margins cut by tariffs. Now that they are out of the drone business, their cameras will be doing all the heavy lifting for the company, and GoPro needs all the money it can get.
