The Trump administration says electronics such as smartphones and laptops will be excluded from ‘reciprocal’ tariffs, a move that could help keep prices down for popular consumer electronics that are not usually made in the US.
The announcement late on Friday would also benefit big tech companies such as Apple and Samsung.
US Customs and Border Protection said items such as 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 will not be subject to the current 145% tariffs levied on China, or the 10% baseline tariffs elsewhere.
It is the latest tariff change by the Trump administration, which has made several U-turns in their 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% of iPhones are produced and assembled in China, according to Wedbush Securities.
Mr Trump previously said he would consider exempting some companies from tariffs.
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.
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.
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