Trump Exempts Smartphones, Computers From New Tariffs

US President Donald Trump has exempted smartphones and computers from reciprocal tariffs, including the 125 percent levies imposed on Chinese imports.

US Customs and Border Patrol published a notice late Friday explaining the goods would be excluded from Trump’s 10 percent global tariffs on most countries and the much larger Chinese import tax.

The move comes after concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket, as many of them are made in China.

The exemptions also include other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells and memory cards.

It was not clear whether technology imports from China would still be hit by a 20% tariff that was not part of the reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2. The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

Some estimates suggested iPhone prices and other electronic goods in the US would have gone up three times if the costs of the tariffs had been passed on to consumers.

The US is a major market for iPhones, while Apple accounted for more than half of its smartphones sales last year, according to Counterpoint Research.

It says as much as 80% of Apple’s iPhones intended for US sale are made in China, with the remaining 20% made in India.

Along with fellow smartphone giants such as Samsung, Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chains to avoid over-reliance on China in recent years.

India and Vietnam emerged as frontrunners for additional manufacturing hubs.

As tariffs took effect, Apple reportedly looked to speed up and increase its production of India-produced devices in recent days.

Trump had planned a host of steep tariffs on countries around the world set to go into effect this week.

But on Wednesday, he quickly reversed course, announcing that he would implement a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs – except China – whose tariffs he raised to 145%. Trump said the Chinese tariff increase was because of the country’s readiness to retaliate with its own 84% levy on US goods.