US President Donald Trump has postponed levies on smartphones, laptops and other electronic products following last week’s stringent tariffs imposed on China, but has said the exemptions will be short-lived.
The administration said that while tariffs would be suspended for now, the exemption would only last until a sector specific regime is introduced. China is the largest electronics manufacturer by country, accounting for an estimated 36% of all global production.
“Those products are going to be part of the semiconductor sectoral tariffs, which are coming … we need to have these things made in America,” said Howard Lutnick, secretary of commerce. He added that the sector specific tariffs would probably be introduced “in a month or two”.
The escalating tariff war between the US and China has seen Trump impose levies of 145% on all Chinese imports. This has led to broad stock market sell-offs, with investors dumping technology stocks in particular.
While exempt from the broader 145% tariffs...