US President Donald Trump’s administration exempt smartphones, computers and other electronic devices from “mutual” tariffs, including a 125% tax on Chinese imports.
In the notice, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said that the goods will be excluded from Trump’s 10% global tariffs and much larger Chinese import taxes in most countries.
It marks all sorts of first important reprieve in Trump’s tariffs on China, and one trade analyst describes it as a “game-changer scenario.”
Late Saturday, while traveling to Miami, Trump said he would provide details of the exemption earlier in the week.
“We’ll be very specific,” he told Air Force 1 reporters. “But we make a lot of money. As a country, we make a lot of money.”
The move is mostly made in China after concerns that gadget prices could skyrocket.
Exemption – Turn your back on April 5th – includes other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells, and memory cards.
“This is a dream scenario for high-tech investors,” posted on X, Dan Ives, global technical research director at Wedbush Securities.
He added that big companies like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can sigh a big relief this weekend.
The White House has shown that exemptions have been made to allow businesses more time to move production to the US.
“President Trump has made it clear that the US cannot rely on China to manufacture important technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones and laptops,” White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said in a statement.
“In the presidential direction, these companies are trying to turn manufacturing into land in the US as quickly as possible.”
Trump, who spends the weekend at his Florida home, told reporters Friday that he was happy with China’s high tariffs.
“And I think there will be something positive out of that,” he said, touting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
These electronic products are subject to Chinese 20% tariffs related to fentanyl, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller posted to X.
Some estimates suggest that US iPhone prices could triple if passed to consumers.
According to CounterPoint Research, the US is the leading iPhone market, with Apple accounting for more than half of smartphone sales last year.
It says that 80% of Apple’s iPhones aimed at selling in the US are in China, with the remaining 20% being made in India.
Like fellow smartphone giant Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chain in recent years to avoid excessive reliance on China.
India and Vietnam have emerged as the forefront of additional manufacturing hubs.
With tariffs in place, Apple reportedly considered speeding up production and increasing production of India-produced devices.
Trump was planning many sudden tariffs this week in countries around the world.
However, on Wednesday he announced that he would implement a 90-day moratorium on countries that were hit by countries where U.S. tariffs have risen.
Trump said the rise in Chinese tariffs is due to the country being prepared to retaliate with 84% collection of US goods.
In a dramatic change in policy, Trump said all countries that had not retaliated against U.S. tariffs would only be faced with blanket tariffs until July.
The White House said the move is a negotiation tactic to extract more favorable terms of trade from other countries.
Trump said his import taxes address inequities in the global trading system and bring jobs and factories back to the United States.
