The Trump administration is spending major tariff exceptions for the technology industry.
While President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would delay much of the market shake tariffs he would notify last week, he held a 10% universal initial fee in the country, while also raising tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% (at the top of a 20% fee that he would already pronounce on goods from China).
There is a lot of speculation about what the tariffs for the technology industry mean, which produces many consumer electronics in China and elsewhere abroad. One of Trump’s stated goals is to make production back to the United States, but others believe that the dream of an American iPhone is a fantasy.
These debates may be stopped after Friday evening, when customs and US border protection posted a list of categories of products that are “exempt from reciprocal tariffs set under executive order 14257”, with the arrears on April 5.
These categories appear to include smartphones, laptops, hard drives and semiconductors. These products will all be exempt from 125% fee for goods from China as well as the initial universal tariff. (Other fees, such as the previous 20% fee for Chinese goods, apparently implemented.)
The visible figures of Silicon Valley led by Elon Musk have joined the Trump administration, while other technology CEOs have been judging Trump, mostly with millions of dollars donated to its inauguration. These efforts seemed to give little fruit – until last night’s announcement, which Daniel Ives, the global head of technology research in Wedbush Securities, described it as “a dream scenario for technology investors”.
Technology giants like Apple and Nvidia are likely to celebrate the news, as well as we consumers who will avoid a big note on their next iPhone. But the industry could still be hit with more target fees and other restrictions. For example, the New York Times reports that the Trump administration is preparing an investigation related to national security for semiconductors.
