Trump administration temporarily shields laptops, phones from tariffs amid trade war tensions

President Donald Trump’s administration approved exemptions from substantial reciprocal tariffs on cellphones, laptops, and some other gadgets mostly imported from China, offering a significant benefit to tech businesses such as Apple that rely on imported items.

In a notification to shippers, the United States Customs and Border Protection department issued a list of tariff codes exempt from import charges. The exclusions go back to 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT) on April 5.

The US CBP identified 20 product categories, including the wide 8471 code for all computers, laptops, disc drives, and automated data processing. It also contained semiconductor devices, equipment, memory chips, and flat-panel displays.

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The notice did not provide an explanation for the move, but the late-night exclusion provides welcome relief to major technology firms such as Apple, Dell Technologies and many other importers.

Trump’s action also excludes the specified electronics from his 10% “baseline” tariffs on goods from most countries other than China, easing import costs for semiconductors from Taiwan and Apple iPhones produced in India.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the announcement “the most bullish news we could have heard this weekend.”

“There is still clear uncertainty and volatility ahead with these China negotiations…. Big Tech firms like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend into Monday,” Ives said in an industry note.

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Many tech company CEOs have embraced Trump as he begins his second term, attending his January 20 inauguration in Washington and celebrating with him afterward. Apple CEO Tim Cook hosted a pre-inaugural ball and has visited Trump at his home in Florida.

For the Chinese imports, the exclusion only applies to Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which climbed to 125% this week, according to a White House official. Trump’s prior 20% duties on all Chinese imports that he said were related to the U.S. fentanyl crisis remain in place.

But the official said Trump will launch a new national security trade investigation into semiconductors soon that could lead to other new tariffs.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump has made clear the U.S. cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones and laptops.

But she said that at Trump’s direction, major tech firms, including Apple and chipmakers Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor “are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”

Tariff pain

The exemptions suggest an increasing awareness within the Trump administration of the pain his tariffs could inflict on inflation-weary consumers.

Even at a lower 54% tariff rate on Chinese imports, analysts predicted the price of a top-end Apple iPhone could jump to $2,300 from $1,599. At 125%, economists and analysts have said U.S.-China trade could largely halt.

Smartphones were the top U.S. import from China in 2024, totaling $41.7 billion, while Chinese-built laptops were second, at $33.1 billion, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Apple recently chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the U.S. from India, after it stepped up production there in an effort to beat Trump’s tariffs, Reuters reported on Friday.

Trump campaigned to win back the White House last year largely on a promise to bring down prices that, fueled by inflation that tarnished the economic reputation of former President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies.

But Trump also promised to impose the tariffs that have become central to his economic agenda, and he has dismissed turbulence in financial markets and price increases from the levies as a disturbance necessary to realign the world trading order as he has envisioned.

His so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” however, raised fears of a U.S. recession and drew criticism from some Republicans, who do not want to lose control of Congress in next year’s mid-term elections to Democrats, who have attacked Trump’s policies.

Trump delayed higher duty rates for 57 trading partners and the European Union last week, leaving most countries with a 10% tariff as they seek to negotiate trade deals with Washington.

The U.S. president, who is spending the weekend at his residence in Florida, told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China but had a good relationship with President Xi Jinping and believed something positive would come out of the trade conflict between them.

Financial markets were in turmoil again on Friday as China matched Trump’s latest tariff increase on U.S. imports to 125%, raising the stakes in a trade war threatening to upend global supply chains.

U.S. stocks ended a volatile week higher, but the safe haven of gold hit a record high during the session and benchmark U.S. 10-year government bond yields posted their biggest weekly increase since 2001 alongside a slump in the dollar, signaling a lack of confidence in the U.S.