Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from new tariffs

Smartphones and computers will be exempted from Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
Trump earlier this month imposed 145% tariffs on products from China, a move that was poised to take a toll on tech companies like Apple, which makes most of its other products in China.
The guidance also includes exclusions for other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells, flat panel TV displays, flash drives, memory cards and solid-state drives used for storing data.

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preCharge News POLITICS — President Donald Trump exempted smartphones, computers, and other tech devices and components from his reciprocal tariffs, new guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows.

The guidance, issued late Friday evening, comes after Trump earlier this month imposed 145% tariffs on products from China, a move that threatened to take a toll on tech giants like Apple, which makes iPhones and most of its other products in China.

The guidance also includes exclusions for other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells, flat panel TV displays, flash drives, and memory cards.

The White House said on Saturday the exemptions were made because Trump wants to ensure that companies have time to move production to the U.S.

White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai said in a statement that Trump “has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops.”

“At the direction of the President, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible,” Desai said.

The 20 product categories listed in the CBP guidelines are apparently exempt from the 125% tariff imposed by Trump on Chinese imports and the 10% baseline tariff on imports from other countries. A 20% tariff on all Chinese goods remains in effect.

preCharge News has asked the White House and CBP to confirm the total effective tariff rate on the exempted products but so far has received no definitive answer.

The exemptions are a win for tech companies like Apple, which makes the majority of its products in China. The country manufactures 80% of iPads and more than half of Mac computers produced, according to Evercore ISI.

“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, told preCharge News. “Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”

He added that the tariffs have been a “black cloud over tech since the day of liberation, because no sector was going to be more hurt than big tech.”

“I think ultimately big tech CEOs spoke loudly, and the White House had to understand and listen to the situation that this would have been Armageddon for big tech if were implemented,” Ives said.