WASHINGTON – United States President Donald Trump’s administration has exempted smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices from reciprocal tariffs, including the 125% levies imposed on Chinese imports.
US Customs and Border Patrol published a notice late on Friday explaining the goods would be excluded from Trump’s 10% global tariff on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax.
The move comes after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China.
This is the first significant reprieve of any kind in Trump’s tariffs on China, with one trade analyst describing it as a “game changer scenario”.
The exemptions – backdated to 5 April – also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.
The White House indicated that the exemptions were made to ensure companies had more time to move production to the US.
“President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “At the direction of the President, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”
Trump told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China.
“And I think something positive is going to come out of that,” he said, touting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Some estimates suggested iPhone prices and other electronic goods in the US would have gone up three times if the costs of the tariffs had been passed on to consumers.
“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” Dan Ives, who is the global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, posted on X. “Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”
Big tech firms like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend into Monday, he added.
The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research.
It says as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India.
Along with fellow smartphone giants such as Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid over-reliance on China in recent years.
India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs.
As tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days. (BBC)
