President Donald Trump has announced a list of tech devices, including smartphones and computers, that will be exempt from reciprocal tariffs imposed on ‘Liberation Day’
Donald Trump has exempted selected tech devices, including smartphones and computers, from his reciprocal tariffs in his latest economic war move.
The exemptions were revealed in new guidance published by the US Customs and Border Protection agency. It comes after Trump imposed 125% tariffs on products from China earlier this month in what he dubbed ‘Liberation Day’. The Republican’s move was set to take a huge toll on tech companies which use China to manufacture the majority of their products. Apple found itself in the spotlight as many questioned what the impact of tariffs would be on the hugely popular iPhone.
Trump himself touted the idea of iPhones being manufactured in the US, however Apple and a whole host of experts and analysts agreed that the idea was a non-starter. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, told reporters on Tuesday that Trump believed Apple’s recent announcement of a $500 billion (£382.2bn) investment into the US, along with rising import costs as a result of the tariffs, would encourage the tech giant to ramp up manufacturing in the US.
But the latest guidance from US Customs and Border Protection appears to step away from that idea, as smartphones are set to be exempt from reciprocal tariffs. The new guidance also includes exclusions for other devices and components – including solar cells, flat panel TV displays, memory sticks, memory cards, semiconductors and solid-state drives used for storing data. These popular electronic devices and pieces of tech usually aren’t manufactured in the US, with potentially setting up domestic manufacturing in America projected to take years.
Though any reprieve this brings may not last, as exclusions stem from the initial order, which prevented extra tariffs on certain sectors from piling up cumulatively on top of country-wide rates imposed as part of the reciprocal tariffs, reports Bloomberg. The exclusion of these products, commonly made in China, could be an indication that they may soon be subject to a separate tariff, albeit almost certainly a lower one for China. So far, tariffs on certain sectors have been set at 25%, though it’s not clear what the rate on tech items would be.
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