The US government has granted tariff exclusions for smartphones, computers and other electronics imported largely from China, sparing them from President Donald Trump’s steep 125% reciprocal duties.
In a notice to shippers, the US Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of tariff codes that will be excluded from the duties.
The exclusions are retroactive to 5 April.
The US CBP listed 20 product categories, including the very broad 8471 code for all computers, laptops, disc drives and automatic data processing.
It also included semiconductor devices, equipment, memory chips and flat panel displays.
The notice did not provide an explanation for the Trump administration’s move, but the late-night exclusion provides welcome relief to major US technology firms, including Apple, Dell Technologies and countless other importers.
The exclusion only applies to Mr Trump’s reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods, which climbed to 125% this week, according to a White House official.
Mr Trump’s prior 20% duties on all Chinese imports that he said were related to the US fentanyl crisis remain in place.
But the official said Mr Trump will launch a new national security trade investigation into semiconductors soon that could lead to other new tariffs on the sector.
Separately, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Mr Trump has made it clear the US cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops.
But she said that at Mr Trump’s direction, major tech firms, including Apple and chipmakers Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor “are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible”.
High tariffs fuel cost worries for smartphones
But the exemptions suggest an increasing awareness within the Trump administration of the pain that his tariffs had in store for inflation-weary consumers, especially on popular products such as smartphones, laptops and other electronics.
Even at a lower 54% tariff rate on Chinese imports, analysts predicted that the price of a top-end Apple iPhone could jump to $2,300 from $1,599.
At 125%, economists and analysts have said that US-China trade could largely halt.
Smartphones were the top US import from China in 2024, totaling $41.7 billion, while Chinese-built laptop computers were second, at $33.1 billion, according to US Census Bureau data.
Donald Trump ran to win back the White House last year largely on a promise to bring down prices that, fueled by inflation from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine, had rocketed and tarnished the economic reputation of former President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies.
But Mr Trump also promised as a candidate to impose the tariffs that have become a central part of his economic agenda, and the president has dismissed the turbulence in financial markets and expected price increases arising from the levies as a disturbance that was a necessary part of realigning the global economy and world trading order with his vision.
His so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” however, raised fears of a US recession and drew criticism from his fellow Republicans, who do not want to lose control of the US House of Representatives and Senate in next year’s congressional elections to Democrats, who have sharply attacked Mr Trump’s policies.
Donald Trump paused higher duty rates for 57 trading partners and the EU last week, leaving most countries with a 10% tariff as they seek to negotiate trade deals with Washington.
Mr Trump, who is spending the weekend at his residence in Florida, told reporters yesterday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China but had a good relationship with President Xi Jinping and believed something positive would come out of the trade conflict between them.
But financial markets were in turmoil again yesterday as China matched Mr Trump’s latest tariff increase on US imports to 125%, raising the stakes in a trade war that threatens to upend global supply chains.
US stocks ended a volatile week higher, but the safe haven of gold hit a record high during the session and benchmark US 10-year government bond yields posted their biggest weekly increase since 2001 alongside a slump in the dollar, signaling a lack of confidence in the US.
China says tariffs will ‘inflict serious harm’ on poor nations
It comes as China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao told the head of the World Trade Organization that US tariffs will “inflict serious harm” on poor nations, according to a ministry statement.
The US and China have been trading salvos of increasingly higher tariffs this month, raising fears of an intensifying trade war between the world’s two largest economies that has sent global markets into a tailspin.
Economists warn that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies will increase prices for consumers and could spark a global recession.
“These US ‘reciprocal tariffs’ will inflict serious harm on developing countries, especially the least developed countries, and could even trigger a humanitarian crisis,” Mr Wang told WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in a call yesterday, the statement said.
“The United States has continuously introduced tariff measures, bringing enormous uncertainty and instability to the world, causing chaos both internationally and domestically within the US,” Mr Wang added.
China said that its 125% tariffs on US goods would take effect today – almost matching the staggering 145% levies imposed by the US on Chinese goods entering the United States.
But China indicated that it would ignore any further levies by US President Donald Trump because it no longer makes economic sense for importers to buy from America, China said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s government said it held first tariff discussions with the United States and expected more talks to build “strong and stable” trade ties.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said the island was on “the first negotiating list of the US government” as he looks to shield its exporters from a 32% tariff.
Taiwan now faces a 10% tariff and Mr Lai said talks would seek to strike a deal with the US to bring that down to zero.
Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said that Taiwanese officials held a video conference the day prior with “relevant US officials” without identifying them.
The two sides “exchanged views on Taiwan-US reciprocal tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, and a number of other economic and trade issues including export controls”, it added.
Article S0urce – US exempts smartphones, computers from global tariffs – RTE
