The Trump administration has reduced the cost impact on American consumers for several well-known high-tech products by excluding computers, smartphones, and other devices from its harsh “reciprocal” tariffs.
The US Customs and Border Protection office announced the exemptions late Friday in a notification. They apply to several electronic products, such as cellphones and parts coming into the US from China, which are currently subject to an astoundingly high additional 145% tariff.
The “baseline” 10 percent tariff on the majority of US trading partners and the additional 125 percent charge on China do not apply to semiconductors.
Trump has targeted China, especially with his “reciprocal tariffs” meant to address practices Washington deemed unfair, most recently introducing a new 125pc tariff on goods from the world’s second-biggest economy that took effect this week.
The rate piled atop an earlier 20pc levy Trump imposed over China’s alleged role in fentanyl supply chains, and other existing tariffs from previous administrations — taking the full figure to at least 145pc for many products.
Hard drives and computer processors are among the several exempted items that are typically not manufactured in the United States.
It will probably take years to increase domestic manufacturing, even if Trump has mentioned tariffs as a means of bringing manufacturing back to the US.
