Lutnick: Don't Count on Tech Exemptions From Tariffs

UPDATE Apr 13, 2025 5:00 PM CDT

That exemption from President Trump's tariffs for certain electronics and the computer chips that power them is nice while it lasts, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested Sunday. "They're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two," he said on ABC's This Week, per CNBC. "So this is not like a permanent sort of exemption." Other administration officials made similar remarks, per the New York Times, and Trump posted that "Nobody is getting 'off the hook' for the unfair Trade Balances." Lutnick said such products are "things that are national security that we need to be made in America."

Apr 12, 2025 10:24 AM CDT

The Trump administration said late Friday that it would exclude electronics like smartphones and laptops from "reciprocal" tariffs, a move that could help keep the prices down for popular consumer electronics that aren't usually made in the US. It would also benefit big tech companies like Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia, reports the AP. US Customs and Border Protection said items like smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors, and some chips would qualify for the exemption. Machines used to make semiconductors are also excluded. That means they won't be subject to the current 145% tariffs levied on China or the 10% baseline tariffs elsewhere.

"Setting up domestic manufacturing would take years," notes Bloomberg. Trump previously said he would consider exempting some companies from tariffs. The move takes off "a huge black cloud overhang for now over the tech sector and the pressure facing U.S. Big Tech," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note. Neither the White House, Apple, or Samsung responded to a request for comment early Saturday. Nvidia declined to comment.

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