The Trump administration said they would exclude electronics like smartphones and laptops from reciprocal tariffs, a move that could help keep the prices down for popular consumer electronics that aren’t usually made in the United States.
It would also benefit big tech companies like Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia.
US Customs and Border Protection said items like smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and some chips would qualify for the exemption.
Machines used to make semiconductors are excluded too.
That means they won’t be subject to the current 145 percent tariffs levied on China or the 10 percent baseline tariffs elsewhere.
Tensions rise between the two major powers following Trump’s decision to pause tariffs on all countries for 90 days, except China.
Reliance on Asia
It's the latest tariff change by the Trump administration, which has made several U-turns in its massive plan to put tariffs in place on goods from most countries.
The goal is to encourage more domestic manufacturing.
But the exemptions seem to acknowledge that the current electronics supply chain is virtually all in Asia, and it will be challenging to shift that to the US.
For example, about 90 percent of iPhones are produced and assembled in China, according to Wedbush Securities.
The move takes off “a huge black cloud overhang for now over the tech sector and the pressure facing US Big Tech”, said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note.
Trump previously said he would consider exempting some companies from tariffs.
Neither Apple nor Samsung responded to a request for comment early Saturday. Nvidia declined to comment.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
The tariff war initiated by US President Donald Trump, who raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%, has rocked global markets as he claims Beijing was "abusing" trade practices with the US.
