Computers, smartphones, chips and other devices and components, including many from China, will be exempted from President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency tasked with collecting tariff revenue, announced late Friday that a swathe of electronics would not be hit by the president’s tariff policy, a win for consumers and tech giants like Apple.
The agency cited a memo from Mr. Trump that ordered a list of electronics, including routers, semiconductors, memory cards and flat-screen TVs will avoid the duties.
“All products that are properly classified in these listed provisions will be excluded from the reciprocal tariffs,” the announcement read.
Notably, the latest guidelines are retroactive for the electronics now exempt from tariffs, meaning items shipped on April 5 are likely secure from duties.
Earlier this month, Mr. Trump announced a baseline 10% tariff against numerous countries, coupled with steeper reciprocal tariffs against other countries. But on Wednesday, the president announced a 90-day pause on most of the reciprocal tariffs he levied against nations across the globe, save for China where duties against the country were cranked up by 125%.
Beijing raised China’s tariffs against the U.S. by 84% in response to the White House’s move.
The president’s decision came as the market cratered following his “Liberation Day” announcement the week before and as countries on the target list signaled they wanted to negotiate.
However, many of the items on the list come from China. The move serves as a major win for companies like Apple, which manufactures a large chunk of its products in the communist country.
Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday that he believed the U.S. and China could find a middle ground in the trade war and cited his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as evidence.
“I think something positive is going to come out of it,” Mr. Trump said.
