Smartphones, laptops, chips exempted from Trump’s reciprocal tariffs

The Donald Trump administration has announced that smartphones, laptops, and semiconductor chips will be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, according to a notice from US Customs and Border Protection.

The move, which follows Trump’s decision to impose a 145 per cent tariff on Chinese goods and a 10 per cent baseline duty on products from other countries, is expected to significantly impact tech giants like Apple, which manufactures iPhones and other products in China.

According to the notice issued on Friday, the exemptions apply to products entering the US or removed from warehouses as early as April 5.

The announcement came after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, according to the BBC. However, the notice did not provide an explanation for the Trump administration’s move.

A US agency estimate suggests that around 80 per cent of Apple’s iPhone production and assembly takes place in China and the remaining 20 per cent are made in India.

Other tech products that have been exempted, such as telecom equipment, chipmaking machinery, recording devices, data processing machines, and printed circuit board assemblies, are also rarely manufactured in the US.

Experts point out that setting up domestic production facilities for these products would take the US several years.

However, reports indicated that the exclusion might be temporary, suggesting that the products could soon be subject to a different tariff, likely a lower one for China.

Trump had announced a sweeping reciprocal tariffs on countries, alleging trade imbalances with the US. However, on April 9, barely 13 hours after imposing the duties, he suspended them for most countries — except China — for a period of 90 days.

The administration announced a steep 145 per cent tariff on Chinese imports, effectively triggering a trade war between the world’s two largest economies, while maintaining a baseline duty of 10 per cent for other nations.

The abrupt U-turn followed a global backlash to the tariffs Trump unveiled the previous week, which sparked a four-day selloff in global financial markets, disrupted business operations, and fuelled fears that the US and global economies could slip into recession.

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