Trump exempts electronics — including phones and computers — from reciprocal tariffs

Smartphones, computers and other electronics will be exempt from President Trump’s sweeping reciprocal tariffs, the administration announced.

In a break for consumers, the United States will not collect the new duties on about 20 products listed in guidance issued by Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency tasked with collecting tariff revenues.

This list, published late Friday night, also includes routers, semiconductor chips, flat panel displays, disc drives, memory chips and other tech components.

3

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) cited a presidential memorandum issued Friday, which the White House released Saturday, as the impetus for the new guidance.

3

The exemptions appear to include products manufactured in China — which Trump had previously slapped with 145% levies on some goods.

The majority of iPhone-maker Apple’s products are manufactured in China, according to investment banking advisory firm Evercore ISI, which notes 80% of iPads and more than half of Mac computers are produced by Chinese workers.

The latest exemption is a win for consumers, who faced paying steeper prices for imported electronics — the top US imports from China.

Companies such as Apple, that manufacture products in China or obtain components for their devices from the communist country, also win with the exemption.

An economic study found that tariffs would balloon the price of Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhone from $1,599 to $2,300, even assuming a lower, 54% tariff rate on Chinese goods, analysts at Rosenblatt Securities told Reuters.

Gerard DiPippo, an expert at the RAND China Research Center, said he interpreted the Trump administration’s latest move “primarily as an attempt to mitigate the impact on electronics and consumers more than as a signal of a US-China deal.”

3

“The exempted categories cover about 22% of US imports from China,” DiPippo noted on X.

Daniel Ives, head of technology research, at Wedbush Securities described the tariff exclusion as “the best news possible for tech investors.”

“Big Tech firms like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend into Monday,” he said in a statement posted on X. “A big step forward for US tech to get these exemptions and the most bullish news we could have heard this weekend … now onto the next step in negotiations on the broader China tariff war which will take a number of months at least.”

The electronics denoted in the presidential memo, which were specified by trade codes, are also exempt from the 10% “baseline” tariff rate Trump announced for most countries earlier this month.

White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller noted on X that the products are still subject to the 20% tariff against China that went into effect last month.

Trump used his authorit y under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose those tariffs in response to his belief that China has failed to crackdown on deadly fentanyl imports.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Saturday – which didn’t address the new exemption – that Trump’s goal remains bringing manufacturing back to the US.

“President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops,” Leavitt said.

“That’s why the President has secured trillions of dollars in U.S. investments from the largest tech companies in the world, including Apple, TSMC, and Nvidia,” she added. “At the direction of the President, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”

Trump granted foreign nations a 90-day reprieve on reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday – minus the 10% baseline – in response to a stock market freefall and overtures from dozens of countries looking to cut new trade deals with the US. China was not included in the reprieve.

 “We’re in a very good position,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday night, when asked about the state of tariff negotiations.

On China specifically, Trump indicated he’s always had a good relationship with President Xi Jinping and expects to work something out. 

“I think something positive is going to come out of it,” Trump said of China.

Trump plans to soon launch a new national security trade investigation into semiconductors – which could mean new tariffs on the technology sector in the near future , a White House official told Reuters.