President Donald Trump has recently announced key technologies to be exempt from his tariffs. However, these exemptions may be temporary.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made it clear on Sunday morning during an interview with the ABC show “This Week,” saying that Trump is making these products “exempt from the reciprocal tariffs” but including them in “the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two.”
“All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they’re going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored,” Lutnick said. He added that the U.S. needs to have semiconductors, they need to have chips, and they need to have flat panels, and that they need to have these things made in America.
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President Trump has temporarily exempted key consumer electronics—including smartphones, laptops, and semiconductors—from his administration’s new reciprocal tariffs, offering short-term relief to major technology companies such as Apple, Dell, and Nvidia.
The exemptions, confirmed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), apply to products not typically manufactured in the U.S., aiming to shield consumers and businesses from immediate cost increases. Despite the temporary nature of these exemptions, the announcement spurred a rally in tech stocks, with Apple shares rising over 4% and Dell experiencing a 6% intraday increase, according to MarketWatch.
In April, China imposed 125% tariffs on a wide range of U.S. imports in retaliation for the U.S. raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. This marks a sharp escalation in trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Key U.S. exports affected include soybeans, pharmaceuticals, and aircraft parts. China also suspended imports of certain U.S. agricultural products and tightened export controls on rare earth minerals. The move has disrupted global supply chains, especially in e-commerce, where Chinese sellers on platforms like Amazon are raising prices or exiting the U.S. market altogether.
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Social media platforms like TikTok have become battlegrounds for public opinion, with users from both countries expressing frustration and national pride. The Chinese government described the U.S. tariffs as economic coercion and stated that further escalation would not lead to additional retaliation. This standoff continues to spark uncertainty in global markets and strain U.S.-China relations.
Meanwhile, Trump posted on Truth Social that there was “no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday,” because (as noted in much of the initial coverage, including TechCrunch’s story) electronics made in China remain subject to a separate 20% tariff that Trump has tied to fentanyl. He also said these products “are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”