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The Trump administration has excluded smartphones and other consumer electronic elements from its abrupt “reciprocal” prices in a significant boost for Big Tech while the Battles of the White House to calm the world markets after launching a multi -font trade war.
According to a notice published late Friday evening by customs and border patrols, smartphones, as well as routers, token control equipment, wireless headphones and certain computers and laptops, are exempt from reciprocal prices, which include 125% samples that Donald Trump imposed on Chinese imports.
The Cup is a great victory for companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft, and follows a week of intense turbulence in the US markets after Trump triggered a trade war against the “Liberation Day” on April 2. The announcement rocked global investors and sparked a stock market rout.
The exemption is the first sign of any softening of Trump’s prices against China, which he reached by a touch in last week when he stopped the steepest “reciprocal” prices. It has kept 10% tariffs on most business partners.
The Trump administration had already exempt several sectors from its reciprocal prices, including semiconductors and pharmaceutical products, but the president reported that he was still planning to apply prices to these sectors.
A White House official said on Saturday that the United States would launch a separate investigation that could lead to a “soon” flea price.
The exemption from smartphones and computers will be particularly well received by Apple because most of its supply chain is centered on China. Analysts believe that around 80% of its iPhones are still manufactured in the country, even if the technological group has worked to diversify production in India in recent years.
The majority of iPhones are manufactured in a large factory complex in Zhengzhou operated by the Apple Foxconn manufacturing partner. The factory workers told Financial Times this week that operations were normal but that they were worried about the impact of the trade war.
The actions of the American technology giant were one of the largest victims of Wall Street in the days immediately announced that Trump announced his reciprocal rates. About $ 700 billion was erased from Apple’s market value in the space of a few days.
Earlier this week, Trump said he was planning to exclude American companies from his prices, but added that such decisions would be taken “instinctively”.
Chad Bown, a principal researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the exemptions reflected exceptions for smartphones and consumer electronics issued by Trump during his commercial wars in 2018 and 2019.
“We will have to wait and see if the exemptions this time also remain, or if the president reverses the course again in the future not too far away,” said Bown.
Customs and the protection of American border have referred to the requests for information on the ordinance of the US international trade committee, which did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The White House has confirmed that new exemptions would not apply to prices of 20% on all Chinese imports applied by Trump to respond to the role of China in the manufacture of fentanyl.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Saturday that companies such as Apple, TSMC and Nvidia “” jostled to exploit their manufacture in the United States as soon as possible “in” the management of the president “.
“President Trump clearly said that America cannot count on China to make critical technologies such as semiconductors, fleas, smartphones and laptops,” said Leavitt.
Apple refused to comment.
Economists have warned that the radical nature of Trump’s prices – which apply to a wide range of common American consumer goods – threaten to fuel American inflation and hit economic growth.
New York Fed leader John Williams said American inflation could reach 4% following Trump’s prices.
Additional report by Michael Acton in San Francisco
