Trump says chips from China will face new tariffs
14/4/2025 6:16
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday bore down on his
administration's latest message that the exclusion of
smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs on China
will be short-lived, pledging a national security trade
investigation into the semiconductor sector.
Those electronics "are just moving to a different Tariff
'bucket,'" Trump said in a social media post. "We are taking a
look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in
the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations."
The White House had announced the exclusions from steep
reciprocal tariffs on Friday.
Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, earlier on
Sunday said that critical technology products from China would
face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the
next two months.
The exclusions announced on Friday were seen as a big
break for technology firms such as Apple and Dell
Technologies that rely on imports from China.
Trump's back-and-forth on tariffs last week triggered the
wildest swings on Wall Street since the COVID pandemic of 2020.
The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index is down more
than 10% since Trump took office on January 20.
Lutnick said 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. The new duties would fall
outside Trump's so-called reciprocal tariffs, under which levies
on Chinese imports climbed to 125% last week, he said.
"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," Lutnick said in an interview on
ABC's "This Week," predicting that the levies would bring
production of those products to the United States. "These are
things that are national security, that we need to be made in
America."
Beijing increased its own tariffs on U.S. imports to 125% on
Friday in response. On Sunday, before Lutnick's comments, China
said it was evaluating the impact of the exclusions for the
technology products implemented late on Friday.
"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 Trump's run
for president but who has criticized the tariffs, on Sunday
called on him to pause the broad and steep reciprocal tariffs on
China for three months, as Trump did for most countries last
week.
If Trump paused Chinese tariffs for 90 days and cut them to
10% temporarily, "he would achieve the same objective in causing
U.S. businesses to relocate their supply chains from China
without the disruption and risk," Ackman wrote on X.
'CHANGES EVERY DAY'
Sven Henrich, founder and lead market strategist for
NorthmanTrader, was harshly critical of how the tariff issue was
being handled on Sunday.
"Sentiment check: The biggest rally of the year would come on
the day Lutnick gets fired," 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."
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, criticized the
latest revision to Trump's tariff plan, which economists have
warned could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.
"There is no tariff policy - only chaos and corruption,"
Warren said on ABC's "This Week," speaking before Trump's latest
post on social media.
In a notice to shippers late on Friday, the U.S. 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.
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," White House trade
adviser Peter Navarro said the U.S. has opened an invitation to
China to negotiate, but he criticized China's connection to the
lethal fentanyl supply chain and did not include it on a list of
seven entities - the United Kingdom, the European Union, India,
Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Israel - with which he said
the administration was in talks.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on CBS's "Face the
Nation" that there were no plans yet for Trump to speak to
Chinese President Xi Jinping on tariffs, accusing China of
creating trade friction by responding with levies of its own.
But he expressed hopes for some non-Chinese deals.
"My goal is to get meaningful deals before 90 days, and I
think we're going to be there with several countries in the next
few weeks," Greer said.
Ray Dalio, the billionaire founder of the world's
biggest hedge fund, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he was
worried about the United States 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," Dalio said on Sunday. "And I'm worried about
something worse than a recession if this isn't handled well."
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