The Trump administration has exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from new import tariffs, The Economic Times reported. This means that products from companies such as Apple, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will temporarily avoid significant price increases in the US market.
The Trump administration has exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from new import tariffs, The Economic Times reported. This means that products from companies such as Apple, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will temporarily avoid significant price increases in the US market.
The exemptions were published Friday evening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They apply to two types of tariffs initiated by Trump:
125% duties on imports from China (so-called «mirror» tariffs),
10% is a basic global rate that covers almost all other countries.
The list of exceptions includes:
smartphones,
laptops,
hard drives,
processors and memory chips,
as well as equipment for semiconductor production.
All of these products have one thing in common: they are virtually nonexistent in the U.S. According to government officials, bringing such production to the U.S. would require years of investment and building new infrastructure.
The importance of the exemption for equipment used in the production of microchips is emphasized. This is especially relevant for companies like TSMC, which recently announced the large-scale construction of a new chip factory in the United States. Under the influence of heavy tariffs, such a project could lose its economic feasibility.
However, there are caveats. The document notes that the exemptions are based on the original rules and may be temporary. This means that new, less stringent tariffs may be imposed on some goods later — at least on China. For example, Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to impose a separate tariff on semiconductors, which, according to rumors, could be 25%, although this has not happened so far.
The White House has not yet commented on the changes.
Thus, American consumers can temporarily breathe a sigh of relief — prices for gadgets will not increase in the near future. But for electronics manufacturers, this «tariff pause» gives them a chance to adapt to the new rules of the game before the US decides on the final scenario of economic pressure on imports of high-tech products.
