The President of the United States, Donald Trump, threatened new prices on Chinese electronic products, three days after his administration announced exemptions on smartphones, laptops, flash readers and a multitude of other technology products he has announced since April 2.
These exemptions have relieved to American technological companies which depend on Chinese manufacturing, such as the company Apple and Chip Nvidia, which saw their actions increase considerably after the publication of Friday’s opinion.
Then came the announcement on Monday, which sparked Trump criticism on his back and forth prices-after suggestions from his opponents and certain experts whom he had in fact withdrawn from many steep prices imposed on China.
But the latest prices that the Trump administration partially restored on Friday is only part of the most recent samples imposed on Chinese electronics as part of a current and dizzying tariff dispute which has taken place in recent weeks between the two largest economies in the world.
In fact, this tense tariff conclusion is prior to the current duration of Trump and is rooted in his first pass in office and former president Joe Biden on the tasks of Chinese goods by former president Joe Biden.
So what prices did the Trump administration fell on the weekend? Is Chinese electronics still subject to American prices? How much are they? And how does Trump react to the criticism of the hindsight?
What prices has Trump administration gave up?
After dramatic back and forth dramatic hikes between the United States and China last week, Washington seemed to bend on Friday.
A notice Friday, issued by customs and the protection of American borders listed more than a dozen categories of products that would be exempt from the wave of prices that Trump has imposed on China since April 2.
They included computers, laptops, discs and processing equipment for automatic data, products that are not largely manufactured in the United States but in China. Smartphones, memory cards, semiconductor devices, solar cells, modems, routers and flat panel screens were also included on the list of exemptions.
Friday’s opinion specifically mentioned the exemptions for these products of the prices imposed on China on 2, Tuesday and Wednesday April.
The prices of April 2 increased tasks on all Chinese products from 20% to 54%. Tuesday, Trump announced another increase of 50%, bringing the total rate rate to 104%. Then, a day later, after China increased prices on 84%American products, Trump increased his rights to imports from China to 145%.
An analysis of the Capital Economics financial company concluded that Trump had made the favor of the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, with the exemptions. The exemptions covered goods which represented 23% of American imports from China, concluded the company.
What does Trump said on Sunday?
After criticizing Friday’s exemptions Trump said that China was not exempt from prices.
“No one embarks on” unfair trade balances and monetary tariff barriers, which other countries have used against us, in particular not China which, by far, treats the worst! ” Trump posted on his social networking platform Truth.
Senior officials have also insisted that any price exemption from which Chinese electronics benefit is temporary.
The American secretary of trade, Howard Lunick, said that journalists Chinese Electronics were now exempt from radical “liberation day” initially imposed by Trump on dozens of countries on April 2, but the goods would always face to come to come to the progress.
“”[Electronics are] Exempt from reciprocal prices, but they are included in the prices of semiconductors, which are probably arriving in a month or two, “Larick told ABC News on Sunday.
Trump then changed this chronology – spectacularly. He said he would announce new prices on China semiconductors on Monday.
Is Chinese electronics free from American prices for the moment?
No way.
The Trump administration has only retreated the prices imposed since April 2 in electronics selection.
Electronics imported by the United States – including iPhones, laptops and other gadgets – always faces at least 20% prices that Trump imposed on all Chinese products on January 20, the day he took office for the second time on April 2.
On February 1, Trump imposed a 10% tax on all Chinese products. It increased this by 10% additional on March 4, relating to a reference supplement to Chinese products at 20%.
And the price exemption announced Friday on semiconductor products is also a bit of a mirage.
Even before Trump took up his duties, Biden had introduced a 50% rate on all Chinese semiconductors, who entered into force on January 1. Trump did not delete this obligation. Most electronic products that the United States imports from China, including smartphones and laptops, work on these semiconductors. We do not know if they could also face the weight of prices on semiconductors.
In addition, a series of sanctions from the Biden era against Chinese semiconductor companies, limiting their access to high-end fleas, remains in force.
What is the next step?
Trump said he was planning to impose new prices on Chinese electronics on Monday. He also increased rhetoric against Beijing, saying that his administration would launch a “national security tariff survey” to examine the American semiconductor supply chain and the role of China.
China is the largest source of semiconductor chips in the world. In 2023 and 2024, the largest markets for its flea exports were the United States ($ 647 million), Singapore ($ 128 million) and Italy ($ 83.5 million), according to data from the Economic Complexity Observatory.
Addressing CNN, the director of the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, explained that the United States would investigate the semiconductor supply chain before more prices are placed on this industry. Under the American trade on trade law, the president has powers to restrict the trade in products considered essential to national security after the conclusion of an investigation.
“Semiconductors are the key and important part of many defense equipment. There will be a 232 semiconductor which is studying these things carefully and decides to assist in order to protect America,” Hassett told CNN on Sunday, referring to article 232 of the law on the expansion of American exchanges.
What is the state of the American-Chinese trade war?
The latest bursts of electronic gadgets and semiconductors are a secondary intrigue for a larger trade war than the United States and China have intensified in recent days, placing the reprisals on each other since Trump’s announcement on April 2.
Chinese exports to the United States – apart from electronic goods exempt on Friday – currently have a 145%levy. American goods entering China have an additional 125%.
The countries have rushed to negotiate better agreements with Washington since the announcement of radical prices. Last week, the United States interrupted additional prices on most countries for 90 days, rather imposing a 10% rate on all their goods
China – which declared a “fight until the end” – was not included in these agreements.
The markets have been volatile since Trump announced his prices. The president insisted that the turbulence of stock markets is the “short -term” consequence of the reset of the world commercial order, which would ultimately prove to be rewarding for American consumers.
However, as the expectations of an increase in inflation are increasing, experts have said that the American exemptions announced on Friday have demonstrated increasing awareness in pain administration that prices have in reserve for American manufacturers and consumers.
Apple is only one of the many American companies on the edge during the trade war. The majority of its iPhones – around 90% – are assembled in China through its local partner, Foxconn. China produces around 80% of Apple products.
Lobbying groups representing Intel technological companies, NVIDIA and other companies have urged Washington to negotiate commercial transactions that would reduce trade barriers worldwide.
Other sectors have also been affected.
In March, Trump placed a 25% rate on steel and aluminum imports from all countries, including China. Beijing is the largest steel and aluminum producer in the world. Direct steel exports to the United States in 2024 only represented 4.1% of its total production. Aluminum exports to the United States were higher at 16% of the total production of China in 2024.
Then, on April 3, the Trump administration announced a 25% rate on imported cars. China has been hit again: Beijing is the largest car manufacturer in the world. Although its automotive exports to the United States represented approximately 2% of the total American automotive imports – or only 0.4% of automobile sales in 2024, according to the S&P credit rating company, Chinese car manufacturers are so integrated into the global supply chain that new prices in all countries could negatively impact them.
May 3, 25% prices on all imported automotive parts are also launching.
Although Trump administration officials suggested that Americans can avoid an increase in prices on foreign cars by buying those made in the country, experts have warned that no car manufactured in the United States is fully based on American parts.
