The US President has said there is no tariff exemption for electronic items, but they fall into a different category.
President Donald Trump said no one would “get off the hook” after Beijing appeared to have slightly overturned pressure on China by listing tariff exemptions for electronic products, a major exporter to the United States.
With the latest twist on the world trade war from the Trump administration, the president on Sunday insisted that there are “no tariffs “exceptions.” Smartphones, laptops and other products remained at a 20% rate of “different tariffs “buckets”.
“We will not be held hostage by other countries, especially hostile trading countries like China,” he said in a post on the Truth Social Platform.
Trump said he would give “very specific” details on Monday, but U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said semiconductor tariffs are likely to be implemented “in a month or two.”
Trump said drug products are “outside mutual tariffs,” using tariff control periods aimed at zeroing all US trade imbalances.
The exchange of Tit-for-Tat has led to a taxation imposed on China rising to 145%, with Beijing setting a retaliatory 125% band for US imports.
Beijing initially welcomed Washington’s exemption, calling them a “small step” in the right direction, and insisting that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the entire tariff strategy.
In Trump’s latest comment, it is now premature, and the world’s two biggest economies remain trapped in a bitter struggle.
The US president has overturned financial markets by announcing it would wipe out import taxes on dozens of trading partners.
The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing deals with China, but administration officials have revealed they hope Beijing will reach out first.
