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. 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.
