Are iPhone prices safe? Phones, computers, and chips are now exempt from US tariffs
Date:
Sat, 12 Apr 2025 18:30:10 +0000
Description:
A range of electronics goods are now exempt from tariffs including those manufactured in China.
FULL STORY ======================================================================
- Certain electronics gadgets are now exempt from certain tariffs
- Phones, laptops, and processors all get a reprieve which includes China
- It's still not clear what will happen next with electronics pricing
There's a new twist in the US tariff trade war : Phones, computers, semiconductors and various other electronics are now exempt from punishing import tariffs, which have shot up to 145% for China and are typically now
10% as a baseline for other countries.
The news was reported by the Associated Press and others, and while it's
still early to say what the full impact will be, it does ease the pressure on companies who mostly manufacture their gadgets outside of the US including Apple, Dell, Nvidia, and Samsung.
US President Donald Trump introduced a raft of tariffs for goods imported to the US at the start of the month, and markets have been in chaos ever since. Earlier this week, a lot of those tariff hikes above the 10% baseline were paused but not for China, which raised its own tariffs in turn.
This new exclusion policy does cover China, and mentions smartphones,
laptops, hard drives, computer processors, memory chips, and machines used to make semiconductors. Most companies that deal in electronics will be
breathing a sigh of relief, though some device categories apparently aren't covered, including video games consoles.
It's been difficult to predict the moves the US government has made in
respect to tariffs in recent days, and that hasn't changed. This latest move should mean gadget pricing settles down for consumers , but it's impossible
to be certain.
Bloomberg reports that the new exclusion policy could be a precursor to a whole separate tariff focused specifically on electronics. For now, the world is waiting to see how the 90-day pause on many of Trump's tariffs plays out.
As a US company which assembles almost all of its goods overseas, including
in China, Apple has been in the spotlight during all of this tariff uncertainty: there have even been suggestions of Apple factories in the US
and reports of iPhone panic-buying ahead of potential price rises.
Apple is one of the companies that it seems will benefit the most, though the move may not be enough to open up Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders in the US , which have been delayed. Consoles like the Switch 2 aren't mentioned in the
new exemptions, though the previous 90-day pause should mean more stock can
be moved to the United States.
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/tech/are-iphone-prices-safe-phones-computers-and-chi ps-are-now-exempt-from-us-tariffs
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