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Donald Trump excludes smartphones, computers, other electronics from reciprocal tariffs
The exclusions would apply to smartphones, laptop computers, hard drives and computer processors, and memory chips.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has exempted smartphones, computers, and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs it announced earlier this month, potentially cushioning consumers from a potential increase in prices.
While benefiting the public, the move would also be welcomed by electronics giants, including Apple and Samsung, who were staring at a potential increase in their costs to access the US market.
According to a Bloomberg report, the exclusions, published late on Friday by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), narrow the scope of the levies by excluding the products from Trump’s 145 percent China tariff and his baseline 10 percent global tariff on nearly all other countries.
The exclusions would apply to smartphones, laptop computers, hard drives and computer processors, and memory chips. Those popular consumer electronics items generally aren’t made in the US. Setting up domestic manufacturing would take a long time, possibly years.
Other exempted products include machines used to make semiconductors, a major reprieve for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), along with other chipmakers. TSMC has announced a major new investment in the US.
Also read: Donald Trump’s next trade war move? Stockpile the metals China has dominance in
What caused the Donald Trump administration to give exemptions to the electronics industry?
The exclusions from the Donald Trump administration stem from the initial order, which prevented extra tariffs on certain sectors from stacking cumulatively on top of the country-wide rates, Bloomberg reported.
The exclusion is being seen as a sign that the products included in the list may soon be subject to a different tariff. But the report suggested that those rates will almost surely be lower for China.
Trump has regularly pledged to apply a specific tariff for semiconductors, although he hasn't acted upon it yet. But the latest exclusions appear to correspond with that exemption. Trump’s sectoral tariffs have so far been set at 25 percent, though it’s not clear what his rate on semiconductors and related products would be.
