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US Trade Secretary Howard Lutnick has warned that smartphones, computers and other electronics imported to America from China will still face tariffs, making a blow in hopes for a return to large technology companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.
Donald Trump’s administration this weekend excluded phones and other consumption electronics from “reciprocal” steep tariffs in what was an important incentive for technology groups whose actions were plunged after the President issued a global trade war on “ERITION Liberation”.
But talking on ABC This week On Sunday, Lutnick said such products would be reviewed as part of a government investigation in semiconductors, who face a particular round of tariffs.
“What he is doing is that he is saying they are excluded from reciprocal tariffs,” Lutnick said, referring to the US president. “But they are included in the semiconductor fees, which are probably coming one or two months.”
When asked to clarify if the iPhone fees can “return within a month or so”, Lutnick replied: “Correct. This is right. We need our medicines and we need semiconductors and our electronics to build in America.”
Lutnick’s comments will arouse further business uncertainty about Trump’s tariff participation, which is marked by a series of returns that have caused a stock price rotor and an intense sale last week in the US $ Treasury market.
It would mitigate fees for Chinese imports would be a big win for Microsoft and Apple’s likes, which makes about 80 percent of its iPhones in China, according to analyst estimates.
Last week, Trump withdrew his additional tariffs in China to 145 percent, although he offered a 90-day pause for his “reciprocal” fees for other countries. The president held a 10 percent fee for most US trading partners.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Sunday that the US would talk to her trading partners. “We have 90 deals within 90 days maybe waiting here, and it was the first for the course,” Navarro said.
US meetings for Chinese imports, which have increased in response to revenge tariffs from Beijing, include a 20 percent fee in retaliation for the country’s role in Fentanile production along with a 125 percent “reciprocal” fee.
The exceptions offered for consumer technology goods on Friday only apply to reciprocal tariffs. All imports from China, including goods exempt from reciprocal taxes, are still subject to an additional 20 percent under Trump.
Beijing on Sunday asked the White House to cancel the full extent of “reciprocal” tariffs, arguing that “there is no winner in a trade war, and there is no way out for protectionism”.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said it was a “small step for the US to correct its wrong one -sided fees”, but that was “valuing the relevant impact”.
She added that the US should “take a big step in correcting its errors, fully canceling the wrong practice of reciprocal tariffs, and return to the right path of mutual respect.”
