US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced on Sunday ( Apr 13 ) that semiconductors, along with smartphones, computers, and other electronics that were just exempt from high tariffs on imports from China will be subject to separate new duties within the next two months.
Lutnick’s remarks on ABC’s” This Week,” which highlighted the upcoming levies on important technology products, are the most recent twist in President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, which have stifled the global trading order and stymied financial markets since they were made public on what he referred to as” Liberation Day” on April 2.
The Trump management made a surprise announcement late on Friday, granting exemptions from the rough mutual tariffs on phones and a number of other electrical items. This is seen as a major blow for tech companies like Apple and Dell Technologies, which rely on imports from China.
Trump’s tariff negotiations have sparked a trade war with China, and they have caused Wall Street to experience the most extreme jumps since the 2020 COVID crisis. Since Trump took office on January 20, the standard Standard & Poor’s 500 index has fallen by more than 10 %.
In addition to regional taxes aimed at semiconductors and medicine, Lutnick predicted that Trump had pass” a particular focus-type of price” on smartphones, pcs, and other electronics products in a month or two. He claimed that those new levies may fall outside Trump’s so-called mutual tariffs, which saw a rise in import levies on China this week increase to 125 percent.
In the discussion with ABC, Lutnick said,” He’s saying they’re excluded from the mutual tariffs, but they’re included in the silicon tariffs, which are coming in perhaps a month or two,” predicting that the levies would encourage American production of those products. We need to be made in America because of these issues that constitute regional stability.
Lutnick’s comments appeared to go beyond what was initially reported on Saturday when a White House official announced that Trump had soon release a new national safety trade investigation into semiconductors, which could lead to additional new tariffs.
Beijing’s personal taxes on US exports increased to 125 percent on Friday, striking a balance with Trump’s. China announced on Sunday that it was assessing the effects of the restrictions for the engineering products that were introduced late on Friday.