Confusion over President Donald Trump’s tariffs remains following a weekend of questions around trade in consumer electronics.
On Friday the Trump administration paused its new taxes on electronics imported into the U.S. — signaling some relief from trade wars that have particularly escalated with China, a major exporter of technology from smartphones to laptops. But these goods remain subject to other levies.
And officials have also indicated that additional, sector-specific tariffs targeting electronics are on the way — all of which economists warn will raise costs and lead to higher prices for consumers.
Here's what we know.
Late Friday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said that electronics, including smartphones and laptops, would be excluded from broader, so-called “reciprocal” tariffs — meaning these goods wouldn't be subject to most tariffs levied on China to date or the 10% baseline levies imposed on other countries.
But U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later said that this was only a temporary reprieve — telling ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday that electronics will be included under future sector-specific tariffs on semiconductor products, set to arrive in "probably a month or two.”
And not all of the levies that the U.S. has imposed on countries like China fall under the White House's “reciprocal” categorization. Hours after Lutnick's comments, Trump declared on social media that there was no “exception” at all, adding to confusion. Trump instead argued that these goods are “just moving to a different” bucket. He also said that China will still face a 20% levy on electronics imports as part of his administration’s prior move related to fentanyl trafficking.
On Sunday, China’s commerce ministry welcomed a partial reprieve on consumer electronics — but continued to call for the U.S. to completely cancel the rest of its tariffs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated that on Monday, writing in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media that "there are no winners in a trade war.” He added that both China and the U.S. “should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment.”
Tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S. and China have escalated to new heights over recent months. Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed a series of levies that now amount to 145% taxes on a range of imports from the country.
In response, China has hit back with its own measures, including tariffs on U.S. goods that currently total 125%. Its Commerce Ministry has also said it will impose more export controls on rare earths, used in high-tech products such as computer chips and electric vehicle batteries.
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported from other countries. And because so many of the electronics we buy rely on a global supply chain, economists have warned that tariffs impacting consumer technology could mean higher prices for your next smartphone, computer or other gadgets.
Reducing the size of those tariffs, even temporarily, could delay or lessen that impact. But it's unlikely that price hikes will be totally avoided. Electronics will still be taxed by previous (non-"reciprocal”) tariffs — and potentially under additional, sector-specific levies down the road.
It would also be incredibly difficult for companies to change their supply chains. The Trump administration argues that tariffs will entice big names like Apple, for example, to make iPhones in the U.S. for the first time. But Apple has spent decades building up a finely calibrated supply chain in China — and it would take years and cost billions of dollars to build new plants in the U.S.
Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said in a note Monday that Apple should continue “business-as-usual” supply chain diversification and have “Plan B” pricing for different product lines — while pausing before taking action to reduce risk and working on the company's relationship with both U.S. and Chinese governments to avoid blowback.
Trump signaled on Monday that he had spoken to Apple CEO Tim Cook before exempting electronics from some of his China tariffs — telling reporters that he had “helped” Cook with the partial reprieve, while separately saying he plans to provide temporary exemptions for auto makers that may also need “a little bit of time.” The Associated Press reached out to Apple for statement.
Tariffs have plunged financial markets worldwide into turmoil — particularly battering stocks following of Trump's sweeping announcement on April 2. That cooled after news of this partial electronics exemption, as well as last week's pause of steeper tariffs outside of China.
As of Monday afternoon, the S&P 500 was 0.2% higher, though trading was still shaky after it gave back most of its early gain of 1.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 57 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%
Still, the relief could be fleeting. Uncertainty remains high for many companies trying to make long-term plans when conditions seem to change daily.
“Businesses thrive on stability because they plan around rules of engagement ... Ergo, markets perform better when businesses are confident that the rules are really the rules,” Chatterjee wrote Monday. Still, he added, businesses will need to avoid knee-jerk reactions while evaluating risk. “When Friday’s policies are thrown out with Sunday’s brunch leftovers, companies will resort to one primary strategy: do as little as possible and thereby do no harm.”
AP Writers Josh Boak in Washington, Mae Anderson in Nashville and Matt O'Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
20 Comments
ian
Yeah they need to exempt the basic necessities
Peter Neil
Yep, like the stuff used to build things, houses, cars, airplanes, clothes, appliances, tires, tables, chairs, drapes, sheets, golf clubs, tennis racquets, orange face coloring, MAGA hats, US flags, toys, kitchen utensils, picnic baskets, TV’s, football helmets, shoes, socks, towels, pillows, carpet, tools, dishes, etc. I could on, but you get the idea.
wallace
Tariffs on smartphones, electronics, and the semiconductor industry will be again soon. Chaos and confusion.
Peter Neil
China just suspended rare earth shipments.
Checkmate. This will kneecap the U.S.
I told you this weeks ago.
GuruMick
Most western democracies would have Cabinet level discussions with members , get input from experts and hear from the various sectors and stakeholders including affected industries.
Then, decisions would be made .
Is Trump making all these stupid decisions by himself ?
Can someone enlighten me why the worlds number one economy has the trajectory of a butterfly with the hiccups ?
bass4funk
So the U.S. would counter that checkmate
In that case in an emergency situation The United States holds its own rare earth resources—Mountain Pass in California being a key example—but tapping into that potential means more than just digging. To reduce reliance on imports, Washington could accelerate investment in homegrown mining operations and streamline the permitting process. At the same time, building up refining capabilities at home—or teaming up with trusted allies to handle processing overseas—would be essential to turning raw materials into usable components.
They Chinese import a lot from the U.S., so China is also in a very bad position economically. The more these new trade deals are made by this administration, the more the Chinese become isolated, so I believe they will come to the table sooner than later.
deanzaZZR
The bulk of imports from the US are agricultural products, crude oil, coal and other minerals, easily replaceable from other sources. Some might even refer to such a country as a gas station with nukes ...
Wasabi
by the man that bankrupt two casinos, he is doing his best but I would not trust him with my garbage.
Starbucks
—or teaming up with trusted allies
WHO are they again?
TaiwanIsNotChina
Nukes and social media that makes us the wealthiest country of size. You don't have to be jealous.
TaiwanIsNotChina
How is that working out when you can't even make nice with Canada?
Peter Neil
Fiction.
HopeSpringsEternal
Companies like TSMC, Nivida, Apple etc. all cutting 'bespoke' tariff agreements with DJT Admin., which will integrate their critical suppliers etc.
So long as these companies and their suppliers reshore to the US in a timely manner, they will receive full or partial tariff exemptions and waivers = contingent relief
Those companies failing to reshore in a timely manner will pay tariffs retroactively, plus $penalties and interest
Above, win:win, re-shoring takes place, allowing companies to benefit from 15% Corp tax rate, immediate CAPEX expensing, eliminate F/X, tariff, supply chain risks and shipping from abroad with more favorable US legal and regulatory framework and lower energy costs etc.
wallace
Apple iPhones will never be made in the US. Building new manufacturing plants in the U.S. would not only require major investment but could also drive iPhone prices sky-high.
https://youtu.be/FOBk9ecX6Eg?si=bWl9HkpML4BDlG4Y
I'veSeenFootage
I think "confusion" and "incompetence" are the two main words that will be forever associated with Trump 2.0.
Peter Neil
America doesn’t import from China out of charity. It wants and needs what China exports.
Exports to the US only account for 14% of China’s exports and that isn’t an existential threat to their economy. Exports are only 2% of its GDP.
The US can’t even make F-35’s without the rare earth shipments from China. China controls 90% of the world supply chain, not just the processing.
Trump and his childish bluffing game is threatening the entire economy of the US. True believers of Dear Leader and their “Art of the Deal” nonsense they think he’s playing are going to be pariahs in American society by the end of the year.
Even Trumps oil and gas nonsense will hurt Americans by the end of the year. The oil companies have given up on him. Wells are shutting down and workers by the thousands will be laid off in the industry.
Cheap oil is now too cheap to make a profit. America is going to export LNG and reduce export of oil. Gas prices are going to be very high in the winter because stocks will be lower.
The top 3 exports by dollar value by the USA are oil, petroleum products and gas in that order.
Reducing exports of the #1 product is going to reduce revenue. You know, the top line of GDP.
His policies pulled out his butt are disastrous for the US and the American people.
deanzaZZR
Does this country have nukes because if it does some might refer to this country as a gas station with nukes.
Peter Neil
Shipping data from last week:
- 49% drop in global container bookings
- 64% drop in U.S. imports.
- 30% drop in U.S. exports.
Trump has pushed the US and the world off the recession cliff. No spin or gyrating by MAGA can put a rosy twist on on those numbers.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Exports are 20% of China's GDP but thank you for playing.
https://oec.world/en/profile/country/chn
TaiwanIsNotChina
You already said that and it was nonsense when you first proposed it.