Tariff Exemptions On Electronics Are Temporary

The exemptions will only remain in place until the Trump administration develops a new tariff approach specific to the semiconductor industry.

President Trump confirmed that the tariff exemptions on electronics are only temporary.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said items like smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and some chips would qualify for the exemption. Machines used to make semiconductors are excluded too.

That means they won’t be subject to most of the tariffs levied on China or the 10% baseline tariffs elsewhere. However, the exemptions will only remain in place until the Trump administration develops a new tariff approach specific to the semiconductor industry.

For now, electronics are exempt from the reciprocal tariffs but they are included in the semiconductor tariffs that are expected to be implemented in a month or two.

Trump took to social media to say that there was no “exception” at all because the goods are “just moving to a different” bucket and will still face a 20% tariff.