The Trump administration will not exempt electronics from tariffs, the U.S. Commerce Secretary said.
“Electronics will be part of the upcoming sector tariffs,” Lutnick said.
He clarified that electronic goods will fall into the semiconductor category and will be subject to “special tariffs that will be launched soon.”
According to Lutnick, tariffs on semiconductor and electronic products will be implemented within one month, while drug tariffs are expected to be imposed within the next or two months.
The announcement is a recent action taken by the government that appears to temporarily avoid the electronics sector.
Trump administrator breathes from the past
U.S. Customs and Border Protection measures have issued a proposed 125% exemption of reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports, especially excluding smartphones, laptops and a range of other electronic products, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg notes that these exclusions are designed to protect consumers from price shocks and alleviate inflation problems. Exempted products include smartphones, hard drives, processors, memory chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, which are not primarily produced items in the United States and will take years to build domestically.
The exemption list is seen as a significant benefit to companies such as Apple, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, which promises significant investments in chip facilities in the U.S.
However, Bloomberg also reported that the exemptions may only provide temporary relief, and more targeted tariffs may be proposed behind the scenes.
Although former President Trump has selected new tariffs on semiconductors, there are no specific interest rates so far.
So far, the government’s departmental tariffs were set at 25%, but the exact figures for electronics and chips remain uncertain.
