The Trump administration has excluded smartphones, computers, and other electronics from sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports, easing the financial burden on American consumers for a wide range of high-tech goods.
The exemptions, announced late Friday in a notice by US Customs and Border Protection, apply to products currently facing an additional 145 percent tariff under President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” trade policy targeting China.
Among the excluded items are smartphones, hard drives, computer processors, and other components largely manufactured abroad. Semiconductors have also been spared from both the baseline 10-percent tariff on most trading partners and an added 125-percent duty on Chinese imports.
The move narrows the scope of levies introduced by Trump earlier this month, including a new 125-percent tariff that took effect this week on a broad range of goods from China. That rate comes on top of previous tariffs, including a 20-percent penalty linked to China’s alleged role in fentanyl trafficking.
While Trump has argued that tariffs will help bring manufacturing back to the United States, industry experts say domestic production of exempted electronics would take years to develop.
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