The Trump administration late Friday said it would exclude electronics such as smartphones and laptops from its recent tariffs, a move that could help keep the prices down for popular consumer electronics that aren’t usually made in the U.S.
It would also benefit big tech companies such as Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said items including 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 won’t be subject to the current 145% tariffs levied on China or the 10% baseline tariffs elsewhere.
It’s the latest tariff change by the Trump administration, which has made several U-turns in its massive plan to put tariffs in place on goods from most countries. President Trump has said that one of his main goals 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 would be challenging to shift that to the United States. For example, about 90% of iPhones are produced and assembled in China, according to Wedbush Securities.
The announcement removes “a huge black cloud overhang for now over the tech sector and the pressure facing U.S. Big Tech,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in a research note.
Trump previously said he would consider exempting some companies from tariffs.
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 Saturday.
Anderson writes for the Associated Press.
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