The Trump administration said late Friday that it would remove electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops from mutual tariffs.
It will also benefit large companies like Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia.
US Customs and Border Protection said items such as smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat panel monitors and some chips qualify for exemptions. The machines used to create semiconductors are also excluded. This means that it will not be subject to the current 145% tariffs imposed on China or the 10% baseline tariffs elsewhere.
This is the latest tariff change by the Trump administration, making several U-turns with a massive plan to introduce tariffs on goods from most countries.
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The goal is to encourage more domestic manufacturing, but the exemption appears to acknowledge that the current supply chain for electronics is almost in Asia, and it is difficult to shift it to, say, the US. For example, about 90% of iPhones are produced and assembled in China.
The move removes “a huge black cloud overhang that is bigger than the pressure we face for now, with the high-tech sector and our big technology.”
Trump previously said he would consider exempting some businesses from tariffs.
Neither Apple nor Samsung responded to requests for comment early on Saturday. Nvidia declined to comment.
The White House did not immediately respond to Saturday’s request for comment.
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