Donald Trump’s tariffs war: United States President Donald Trump told reporters on April 13 that the exemption of tariffs on China for the US import of electronics is “temporary” and that he is taking a look at semiconductors, for which an announcement will come soon, multiple reports said.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Donald Trump reiterated his administration’s stance on the exclusion of smartphones and computers from tariffs imposed on China. He has also pledged a national security trade investigation into chips and semiconductors soon.
On April 12, Donald Trump said he would give “very specific” answers about any future semiconductor tariffs on Monday (April 14). “We’ll be very specific on Monday. We’re taking in a lot of money; as a country, we’re taking in a lot of money,” he said.
Donald Trump Tariffs War: What Did he Say?
Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, Donald Trump wrote: “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! (sic)”
“There was no Tariff “exception” announced on Friday. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff “bucket.” The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it. We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations (sic),” Donald Trump added.
White House Says ‘Exclusions’ for Tariffs? Details…
The US White House announced on April 11 some exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs, which was viewed as a “big break” for tech giants such as Apple, Dell, and Nvidia, which rely on Chinese imports for their products. However, White House officials and Donald Trump himself spent Sunday downplaying the significance of these exemptions.
US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick on April 13 said that critical technology products and semiconductors from China would face “separate” new duties within the next two months. These would be different from the “reciprocal tariffs” announced by Donald Trump earlier, including the total 125 per cent duties imposed on China last week.
“All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they’re going to have a special focus-type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored,” Lutnick said. He expects the “special tariff” on smartphones, computers and other electronics products in a month or two, alongside sectoral tariffs targeting semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
Lutnick told ABC News channel, “He’s (Donald Trump) saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. These are things that are national security, that we need to be made in America.”
What Has Been Exempted? How Has China Reacted?
According to US Customs and Border Protection, items such as some chips, flat-panel monitors, hard drives, laptops, machines used to make semiconductors, and smartphones qualify for the announced exemption of 10 per cent baseline tariffs on imports from China and elsewhere.
Donald Trump’s latest exemptions cover almost $390 billion in US imports based on official US 2024 trade statistics, including more than $101 billion from China, according to data compiled by Gerard DiPippo, associate director of the Rand China Research Center.
Reacting to the exemptions, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce called it a “small step by the US toward correcting its wrongful action of unilateral ‘reciprocal tariffs’”.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Source:https://www.livemint.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-tariffs-temporary-pause-come-chips-soon-smartphones-laptop-semiconductor-computer-electronics-china-us-news-11744591516614.html