Tariffs on imported semiconductor chips coming soon, Trump says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump on April 13 said he would be announcing the tariff rate on imported semiconductors over the next week, adding that there would be flexibility with some companies in the sector.
The President’s pledge means that the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs
“We wanted to uncomplicate it from a lot of other companies, because we want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he travelled back to Washington from his estate in West Palm Beach, Florida.
He declined to say whether some products such as smartphones might still end up being exempted, but added: “You have to show a certain flexibility. Nobody should be so rigid.”
Earlier in the day, he announced a national security trade probe into the semiconductor sector.
“We are taking a look at semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain in the upcoming national security tariff investigations,” he said in a social media post.
The White House had announced the exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs on April 11, creating some hope that the tech industry might escape being ensnared in the escalating conflict between the two nations and that everyday consumer products such as phones and laptops would remain affordable.
However, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on April 13 that critical technology products from China would face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.
The exclusions announced on April 11 were seen as a big break for technology firms such as Apple and Dell Technologies that rely on imports from China.
Mr Trump’s back-and-forths on tariffs have kicked off a trade war with China
Mr Lutnick said Mr Trump would enact “a special focus-type of tariff” on smartphones, computers and other electronics products in a month or two, alongside sectoral tariffs targeting semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. He said those new levies would fall outside Mr Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, under which levies on Chinese imports climbed to 125 per cent last week.
“He’s saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” Mr Lutnick said in the interview on ABC’s This Week programme, predicting that the levies would bring production of those products to the US.
Beijing increased its own tariffs on US imports to 125 per cent
“The bell on a tiger’s neck can only be untied by the person who tied it,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who endorsed Mr Trump’s run for president but who has criticised the tariffs, on April 13 called on him to pause the broad and steep reciprocal tariffs on China for three months, as he did for most countries last week.
“If President Trump were to pause the China tariffs for 90 days and reduce them temporarily to 10 per cent, he would achieve the same objective in causing US businesses to relocate their supply chains from China without the disruption and risk to these businesses in the short term, and he would have time to negotiate a deal with China,” Mr Ackman wrote on X.
‘Changes every day’
Mr Sven Henrich, founder and lead market strategist for NorthmanTrader, was harshly critical of how the tariff issue was being handled on April 13.
“Sentiment check: The biggest rally of the year would come on the day Lutnick gets fired,” Mr Henrich wrote on X.
“I suggest the administration figures out who controls the message, whatever it is, as it changes every day. US business can’t plan or invest with the constant back and forth.”
US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, criticised the latest revision to Mr Trump’s tariff plan, which economists have warned could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.
“There is no tariff policy – only chaos and corruption,” Ms Warren said on ABC’s This Week.
In a notice to shippers late on April 11, the US Customs and Border Protection agency published a list of tariff codes excluded from the import taxes.
It featured 20 product categories, including computers, laptops, disc drives, semiconductor devices, memory chips and flat panel displays.
For the Chinese imports, the exclusion of the tech products applies only to Mr Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which reached 125 per cent this week.
Mr Trump’s prior 20 per cent duties on all Chinese imports that he said were related to the fentanyl crisis remain in place.
In an interview on NBC's Meet The Press, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said that the US has opened an invitation to China to negotiate but criticised its connection to the lethal fentanyl supply chain and did not include them on a list of seven entities – the UK, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and Israel – with which he said the administration was in talks.
“They’re just lining up outside the door of Jamieson Greer,” Mr Navarro said, referring to the US trade representative.
Mr Greer said on CBS’ Face The Nation that there are no plans yet for Mr Trump to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on tariffs, accusing China of creating the trade friction by responding with levies of its own.
“The only reason we’re really in this position right now is because China chose to retaliate,” he said.
Mr Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world’s biggest hedge fund, told NBC’s Meet The Press that he was worried about the US sliding into recession, or worse, as a result of the tariffs.
“Right now we are at a decision-making point and very close to a recession,” Mr Dalio said on April 13. “And I’m worried about something worse than a recession if this isn’t handled well.” REUTERS
