The US President declared that there would be no exemptions from the tariffs on Sunday evening, after an initial notice on Friday raised hopes that electronic gadgets from China would be spared
As the global impact of President Trump’s tariff onslaught continues to unfold, the US leader asserted on Sunday that there would be no exceptions to his tariffs, dashing hopes raised on Friday regarding electronic imports.
A notice circulated on Friday evening hinted that electronic devices from China might escape his 125% import tax and even his worldwide 10% tariff. However, as we’ve since discovered, this is not the case.
In a post on Truth Social, the President stated: “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!”.
“There was no Tariff “exception” announced on Friday,” Trump continued in his message. “These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff “bucket” “
He further noted: “We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.”
In a pointed jab at China, Trump also proclaimed that the US would not be “held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China.”
He then proceeded to claim that Beijing was fuelling a trade war with the US and would do “everything within its power to disrespect the American People.”
Relations between the two countries have been increasingly strained over the past week, following China’s decision to raise its tariffs on imported goods to 125% in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs, which effectively imposed a 145% tariff on them, reports the Mirror.
A glimmer of hope seemed to emerge on Friday when it appeared that Trump would exempt electronics such as iPhones and laptops from his tariffs. However, this optimism was short-lived, with Commerce Secretary Howar Lutnick confirming on Sunday that these products would indeed be included in the tariffs after all.
In a conversation with ABC News, Lutnick clarified that these items would still be part of a set of tariffs scheduled to be implemented in one to two months’ time.
He stated: “Well remember those products are going to be part of the semiconductor sectoral tariffs which are coming.”
He added that like the separate pharmaceutical and auto tariffs, electronics will also face levies as part of the semiconductor tariffs.
“They’re going to have a special focused type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored” Lutnick explained.
He argued that such products, typically manufactured in China, need to be produced in America. Therefore, while electronics are currently exempt from the existing reciprocal tariffs, they won’t be exempt from a different set of impending tariffs aimed at boosting US manufacturing.
Even if Trump manages to onshore manufacturing to the US, experts caution that establishing the necessary capacity to meet the annual demand for electronics would be far from instantaneous, with the transition potentially spanning years.
For example, Apple, a tech giant that manufactures over 80 percent of its products in China, could suffer significantly from proposed tariffs. The firm has already experienced a staggering $640 billion valuation hit since the tariff announcement made earlier this month.
There seems to be no urgency in attempts to mitigate the current friction as well, given that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping “don’t have any plans” to hold discussions, while the tension fueled by the ongoing tariff conflict between the two economic powerhouses continues to intensify.