In the latest round of the Trump tariff saga that has economists around the world on the edge of their seats, the U.S. released updated guidelines on Friday exempting specific technology devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and machines needed to make semiconductors, from reciprocal tariffs imposed by the U.S.
The new tariff guidelines exclude a range of electronics, including laptops, semiconductors, solar cells, flat-panel displays, flash drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives. However, while these products are currently exempt, future duties remain possible.
China’s Ministry of Commerce called the exemptions “a small step by the U.S. towards rectifying the misguided approach of unilateral ‘reciprocal tariffs’” and added that Beijing was still reviewing its impact.
The Ministry took the opportunity to repeat its heavy criticism of the U.S. tariffs, insisting that Washington was “severely disrupting the international economic and trade order” and “harming others without benefiting itself.” It also called on the U.S. to:
“Take a significant step towards rectification, completely abandon the erroneous ‘reciprocal tariffs’, and return to the right path of mutual respect and resolving differences through equal dialogue.”
145% tariffs hit tech companies like Apple particularly hard
The exemption provides temporary relief to companies like Apple, which manufactures over 90% of its products in China, including iPads and Mac computers. Without the exemptions, Apple may have had to increase the price of its U.S.-sold iPhones by up to 85% to maintain profit margins.
The company had already taken emergency measures by chartering flights to ship millions of iPhones from India to the U.S., aiming to mitigate the impact of potential tariffs. The Economic Times of India wrote:
“Apple’s relationship with China, where it makes up to nine out of ten of its iPhones, turned Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” into six days of hell for the tech company.”
Despite the rally, Apple faces an uphill climb
Despite efforts to diversify manufacturing to countries like India and Vietnam, Apple’s dependency on China’s well-established ecosystem remains. Rebuilding its intricate supply chains elsewhere could take decades, and manufacturing iPhones entirely in the U.S. is impractical due to labor shortages and costs.
The memes circulating on social media are entertaining but speak volumes about the reality that American reindustrialization can’t happen overnight.
Trump critics remain unreserved in their commentary, including Ed Krassenstein, a political commentator and creator of KrassenCast, who said:
“It’s almost getting comical at this point. Trump literally said there would be “no exemptions” to his reciprocal tariffs and MAGA cheered… Now, suddenly he’s backtracking again and adding a bunch of exemptions to his reciprocal tariffs. And MAGA is cheering yet again.”
Political commentator Keith Olbermann posted:
“Trump: Tariffs are perfect and beautiful and mandatory, and I won’t back down. Also, Trump: here are 37,498 tariff exemptions for companies who’ve greased me.”
Meanwhile, crypto markets reacted favorably to the news, with Bitcoin reaching $86,000 for the first time since ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2. It may be worth getting the popcorn ready as we gear up for a new week. The next round of tariff actions is about to take off.
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