The U.S. President Donald Trump has released smartphones, computers and few critical other electronic products from the most recent round of tariffs (Electronics from Tariffs), including the severe 125% levies on Chinese imports, in what looks to be a complete travel from the tedious strategies.
A notice currently available to the public by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol late Friday confirmed that such goods would not suffer Trump’s 10% global tariff nor the much higher tax levied on products from China.
This followed serious pressure applied on them by U.S. tech companies warning that prices for consumer electronics and many of which are produced in China may flow under the said tariffs.
Items that will not be affected by the taxes include smartphones, laptops, semiconductors, solar cells, memory cards and other essential components. Research company Counterpoint revealed that Apple accounted for over half of U.S. sales last year and that up to 80% of its iPhones produced in China are destined for shipping to the U.S.
Some major technology firms like Apple and Samsung are diversifying sources of manufacture from China and setting up new production in countries such as India and Vietnam. Following the tariff announcement, Apple reportedly stepped up the speed of production scaling in India.
Earlier this week, Trump was to make sweeping new tariffs on a number of countries; however, he turned around dramatically and put in place a 90-day “cooling-off” period for most countries—China suffers an additional 145% tariff as a result of its retaliation which included an 84% tax on U.S. goods.
It is a strategy described by the White House as an exercise in pushing for improvement in U.S.-international trade deals. That vision of Trump was the larger umbrella strategy of delifting global trade imbalances and bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
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