Here we go again! Tariff exclusion for smartphones is only temporary says Commerce Secretary
Just yesterday we told you that iPhone buyers in the U.S. had been spared from paying double or even triple Apple's suggested retail price for certain iPhone models. That's because the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that certain electronic and tech products imported into the country such as smartphones, laptop computers, and the chips used to make them work, would be exempted from the reciprocal tariffs that President Donald Trump announced earlier this month.
After Trump paused the tariffs for 90 days on April 9th, the 125% import tax on goods shipped to the U.S. from China remained in effect as did the baseline 10% tariff on other U.S. trading partners. It wasn't until word got out yesterday that Trump had exempted some electronics from the tariffs (including the onerous import tax on goods shipped to the U.S. from China) that consumers in the States and companies like Apple could enjoy a moment to relax.
At the end of yesterday's story about the exemptions that the U.S. placed on electronics and related items, we noted that the exclusions might be short-lived as products like smartphones could eventually be subject to new, but lower tariffs (especially for imports from China). That was confirmed this morning when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said today on ABC's "This Week" that the reprieve was only temporary.
Lutnick said that products like smartphones, computers, chips, and others could be subject to "semiconductor tariffs" that could be announced next month or the following month. The goal, according to Lutnick, is to have important components like chips and flat screens made in the U.S.
"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. We need to have semiconductors, we need to have chips, and we need to have flat panels -- we need to have these things made in America. We can't be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us. So what [President Donald Trump's] doing is he's saying they're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. So these are coming soon."
-Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on ABC News
The Commerce Secretary also said that besides semiconductor tariffs, one is coming for pharmaceuticals. Lutnick once again expressed why the administration continues to tweak its tariff strategy despite forecasts by economists that the plan could push the U.S. economy into a recession.
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