U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods will be raised to 25 percent from 10 percent on Friday, May 10, 2019. The Chinese LED chip manufacturers have reached a record high inventory level due to increased capacity and tepid demand, as well as the trade disputes starting 2018. If the tariffs come to effect, the sluggish LED industry might encounter even greater challenges. The LED industry has suffered from low price competition thanks to over supply as Chinese LED makers continued their capacity expansion...

For a long time, Nichia, Osram Opto., Cree, Toyota Gosei and Lumileds have jointly shaped an enormous and powerful patent shield with cross-license agreements within the world LED industry and the five lighting goliaths have been charging, more or less, whoever tried to sell LED products abroad. However, as those patents are about to expire, Taiwan- and Korea-based Companies rise with their new patents and the expansion of Chinese businesses is posing threats, the industry is slowing transitioning away from the old oligopoly.