Temporary Relief: U.S. Tariff Exemptions on Electronics Won’t Last

The recent exemption of higher U.S. import tariffs on smartphones, laptops, PC components, and other electronics has turned out to be a temporary measure.

According to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who spoke on ABC News, these products will soon be classified under the semiconductor category, for which the White House is preparing a separate tariff.

“All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they’re going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get restored. We can’t be beholden and rely upon foreign countries for fundamental things that we need,” Lutnick emphasized.

He added that the tariffs would take effect in a month or two, with an official notice to be published in the Federal Register later this week.

Last Friday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporarily removed smartphones, laptops, and electronics from the list of goods subject to elevated tariffs. This marked a short-term win for companies like Apple, which rely heavily on Chinese manufacturing. However, as Bloomberg clarified, the move wasn’t a long-term policy shift but rather a procedural delay before these products are moved into a separate category with industry-specific tariffs.

Chinese authorities welcomed the temporary exemption, calling it a “small step” toward reasonable dialogue and urged the U.S. to fully lift unilateral tariffs. Nevertheless, officials from Donald Trump’s administration confirmed the pause is only temporary, with new tariffs still expected — likely set below the 125% rate currently applied to Chinese imports.