The administration of US President Donald Trump has decided to exempt smartphones, computers and other electronic devices from the “retaliatory” customs it imposed recently, in a move that would reduce the price shock on American consumers, and reduce pressure from major technology companies such as “Apple” and “Samsung”, according to Bloomberg.
The US Agency stated that the exemptions announced by the customs and US border protection circles – late on Friday evening – include a group of electronic products that are not manufactured in the United States, most notably mobile phones, mobile computers, hard drives, processors, and memory slices.
Bloomberg added that these products were previously subject to customs duties imposed by Trump on China by 125%, in addition to a 10% basic tariff for most other countries.
For its part, Reuters reported that the American Customs and Protection Authority has included about 20 products, including energy -based energy transformers, solid storage devices and flat displays.
The new exceptions indicate that these drawings will not be applied to this category of products, which is considered a gesture to reduce the intensity of the trade conflict.
Bloomberg also indicated that the exemptions also include the equipment used in the manufacture of semiconductors, which it considered important to Taiwan, TSMC and other companies that have announced huge investments in the United States.
In the same context, a memorandum of the American customs circles – conveyed by the French Press Agency – said that these exemptions are primarily concerned with electronic products imported from China, despite the Trump administration earlier in 145% customs duties on Chinese imports.
The French agency added that electronic chips and semi -conductors were already exempt from the additional fee of 10%, on which the new trade policy was applied with most of the commercial partners of Washington.
However, Bloomberg quoted its sources that these exemptions may be temporary, and may later be replaced by a different customs tariff, but it is expected to be less severe in China.
The agency also pointed out that the White House has not yet issued any official comment on these recent decisions.
According to Bloomberg, this step shows a clear attempt by the American administration to reduce the negative impact of customs definitions on the consumer electronics market, especially in light of the difficulty of transporting the production lines of those commodities into the United States, a process that may take several years.
