Consolidation in the global set top industry has left Arris and Technicolor in the firing line of the tariffs imposed by President Trump on electronic components that go into the boxes. The impact will be global with the total value of set top businesses likely to decline by some fraction of the tariffs imposed, reflecting the fact that these are levied on electronic components as well as finished end user products. However at this stage complete set tops are exempt from the tariffs so the damage may not be as great as had been feared. Imposing punitive tariffs is always a game where the objective is to minimize collateral damage on the importing country while maximizing harm on the exporter.…