Just when the technology industry thought it was safe from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs, the White House has done a U-turn, walking back an exemption announced on select electronics late Friday.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that the decision to exempt a range of electronic devices from the tariffs introduced earlier this month was only “temporary,” and that they would instead be subject to upcoming “semiconductor tariffs” that are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
On Friday, the White House appeared to call off the imposition of the 145% tariffs on many Chinese-made electronics devices and components. The exemptions were announced in a news bulletin by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and confirmed by White House officials on Saturday.
The exemptions were set to bring an urgent reprieve to a tech industry that saw many stocks battered last week as the tariffs came into effect. However, Trump himself cast doubt on the duration of those exemptions in a social media post today. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” Trump wrote in the post.
“There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday,” he continued. “These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket’. The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it. We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.”
In an interview with ABC News, Lutnick confirmed that the exemptions are merely temporary, adding that separate tariffs aimed at electronics are “coming soon.”
“They’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” Lutnick explained. “So this is not like a permanent sort of exemption. [Trump’s] just clarifying that these are not available to be negotiated away by countries. These are things that are national security – that we need to be made in America.”
The comments by Trump and Lutnick appear to have killed off any lingering hopes that U.S. big tech companies such as Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp. might be spared from the 145% reciprocal tariffs on products made in China, including computers, laptops, smartphones and flat-panel TVs. The duties raise prices for U.S. importers and are generally passed onto consumers.
They also add fuel to the increasing confusion around Trump’s tariff policies. Since his administration took office in January, it has appeared to flip-flop numerous times on matters relating to trade, causing “chaos” and a crisis of credibility, according to senior Democrat lawmakers.
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said the confusion created by the apparent reversal of tariffs on some electronics from China – together with the Wednesday announcement of a 90-day pause in enforcing tariffs on some countries – is causing harm to the U.S.
“President Trump now has a crisis in credibility,” Booker told NBC News today. “We’re hearing from around the world, people just don’t know if they can trust him.”
Also today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told CNN the trade confusion will likely deter many businesses from investing in the U.S. “Right now what we’ve got is chaos,” she said. “Investors will not invest in the United States when Donald Trump is playing red light, green light with tariffs.”
Image: News/Freepik AI Suite
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