By The Sampadak Express
Washington, D.C. — The administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump has announced exemptions for smartphones, computers, and other key electronic products from the steep tariffs introduced earlier this month. The move is expected to shield American consumers from potential price hikes while providing relief to major tech companies like Apple and Samsung.
According to a Bloomberg report, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released the updated list of exclusions late Friday. These exemptions effectively narrow the scope of Trump’s sweeping 145% tariff on Chinese imports and the 10% baseline tariff applied to nearly all other countries.
The excluded products include smartphones, laptops, computer processors, hard drives, and memory chips—items that are predominantly manufactured overseas and would be difficult to produce domestically in the short term.
The Trump administration has also exempted machines used in semiconductor manufacturing, a major win for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and other global chipmakers. TSMC recently announced a significant new investment in U.S.-based production.
The exemptions stem from provisions in Trump’s original tariff order, which sought to prevent certain sector-specific duties from overlapping with broad country-based tariffs. While the current move provides temporary relief, analysts suggest that new, lower tariffs may soon be introduced for these products, particularly those imported from China.
Trump has frequently called for targeted tariffs on semiconductors but has yet to formalize such measures. Currently, his sectoral tariffs stand at 25%, though it remains unclear what rates will be applied to chips and related tech components in the future.
