Trump u-turns, exempts phones, computers, hard drives, and chips from tariffs
Trump u-turns, exempts phones, computers, hard drives, and chips from tariffs
The Trump administration walked back some tariffs for the second time in a week.
Over the weekend, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that phones, laptops, hard drives, processors, and memory chips are exempted from new tariffs—specifically the 125% tariff on imported Chinese goods and 10% tariff on other countries.
Additionally, computer components such as GPUs, semiconductors, and the equipment used to manufacture them are excluded.
These exemptions for Big Tech come a few days after the Trump administration issued a 90-day pause on higher tariffs for other countries.
While Apple, NVIDIA, and other US tech companies have some room to breathe after a chaotic week, Bloomberg claims this round of exemptions could be temporary. The Trump administration could implement new, but lower tariffs on electronics in the coming weeks.
Apple, which manufactures most of its products overseas, is one of the companies hardest hit by the trade war. Its stock price has dropped more than 20% since the onset of the tariffs but has recovered slightly in the past few days.
The iPhone maker reportedly flew in five fully loaded cargo planes of iPhones from India and China in late March, in an effort to delay the impact of tariffs on consumers. Analysts estimate that U.S. tariffs could increase iPhone prices by up to 43%, and consumers in Singapore are expected to feel the effects as well.
