The US government has excluded smartphones, laptops and other important electronics of special tariffs against numerous countries – including China.
This exception is a great relief for American providers of computer technology, which largely have their devices produced in Asia. It is another withdrawal of President Donald Trump in his customs circuit.
As can be seen from a message from the customs and border protection authority CBP, the taxes do not apply to hard drives and memory chips. A total of 20 product groups and subcategories are concerned. The authority relies on a memorandum of the President on Friday. According to this document, customs exception applies retrospectively from April 5.
While Trump had initially rowed back to most trading partners and had temporarily suspended parts of the additional taxes for 90 days, he had significantly tightened the course compared to Beijing this week. The United States is now demanding additional tariffs of 145 percent on imports from China, Beijing in turn wants to raise 125 percent on US goods.
Good news for Apple and Nvidia
Apple particularly benefits from the relief: Most Iphones and other devices of the group are being built in China, even if production in Vietnam and India has been expanded in recent years.
Customs exception is above all good news for US companies that expand their data centers for artificial intelligence. The devices are built by US companies such as Dell Technologies mainly outside the United States, with chips from the California group Nvidia that come from Taiwan.
Exceptions only temporarily
Hardly freed from special tariffs, smartphones, laptops and other important electronics products are directly in the sights of the US government. According to US trade minister Howard Lutnick, the product groups that have just been excluded will soon be used again with additional tariffs. When asked at the broadcaster ABC News as to whether the current exception was only temporary, Lutnick replied: “That’s right.” US media had already speculated that the relief could only be a grace period.
New tariffs “probably in one or two months”
The affected product groups were only excluded from the so -called reciprocal tariffs, the minister now emphasized. In fact, however, they would soon fall under new sectoral tariffs in the area of semiconductors. “We have to have these things made in America,” said Lutnick. “We cannot rely on foreign things that we need.” That is why US President Donald Trump will shorten new tariffs shortly – “which will probably come in a month or two”.
In addition to electronic devices and semiconductors, this also affects pharmaceutical products, said Lutnick. He spoke out earlier with the help of robots to have iPhones manufactured in the United States. Industry experts, however, consider this to be difficult to implement: there is a lack of suppliers and specialists. In addition, production in the United States would be significantly more expensive.
Trump’s course ensures uncertainty
It is another example of Trump’s trading-political zigzag course that places both international markets as well as US companies and consumers into uncertainty. Before the exceptions to electronics were announced, the US President was back to many trading partners and had suspended parts of previously announced special tariffs for 90 days.
At the same time, he tightened the course compared to Beijing: the United States now demands additional taxes of up to 145 percent on imports from China. Beijing, on the other hand, reacted to US products with counter-tariffs of 125 percent.
The economist Clemens Fuest warned of a global economic crisis because of the tariffs imposed by Trump. The great danger is that protectionism will spread faster and faster, including in China and Europe, said the President of the IFO Institute in Munich in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
The conflict is “not off the table”, the escalation with China continues and the uncertainty remains. Fuest sees a special danger in the fact that the United States, as the most important economic power in the world, destroyed its reputation as a reliable contractual partner. “The interest rates in the USA are increasing, the dollar falls,” said Fuest. “An alarm signal.” Two thirds of the worldwide stock market capitalization are on the American stock market, the dollar is the worldwide anchor currency. “If all of this tilts, it would have the incalculable consequences.”
Merz hopes for transatlantic free trade agreements
The next Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz was expected to be a transatlantic free trade zone without any tariffs. It was a mistake not to bring the large free trade agreement TTIP over the finish line, the CDU politician told the “Handelsblatt”. “And yes, I hope for a new transatlantic free trade agreement. Null percent inches on everything. That would be better for both sides.”
Negotiations between the EU and the USA about a comprehensive trade and investment agreement with the abbreviation TTIP were stopped by US President Donald Trump in 2017 at the beginning of his first term and have been on hold since then.
Spahn: “Merz can become a European anti-trump”
Union faction vice Jens Spahn advocated in a “world” interview that Europe had to merge in response to Trump’s customs policy under Germany’s leadership and search for new trading partners. “As a Federal Chancellor, Friedrich Merz can become a European anti-trump. A head of government who unites the EU member states who specifies the direction, clearly communicates, adheres to agreements for free world trade,” said Spahn.
Washington (dpa-Afx)
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