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Trump will explain tariffs on electronics on Monday

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
12:16
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Semiconductors from China will face a ‘special-focus type of tariff’: Lutnick
By David Brennan, Alexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: April 14, 2025, 8:28 AM

President Donald Trump on Sunday said there will be no exceptions for tariffs on electronics and that he would clarify his administration's policy on Monday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced late Friday that some smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics would be exempted from tariffs, but Trump's top economic advisers hit the Sunday talk shows to explain the policy, saying that tariffs against electronics would be coming in the next month or two.

“There was no Tariff ‘exemption’ announced on Friday," Trump posted Sunday afternoon, and that semiconductor tariffs will “just be moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

Latest headlines:

  • China says electronics exemption is a ‘small step’
  • Trump says tariff exemptions announced Friday aren't exceptions
  • Trump says details on semiconductor tariffs plan coming Monday
Here's how the news is developing.

Apr 14, 2025 8:28 AM

Trump says semiconductor tariffs coming 'in the not-distant future'

President Donald Trump, aboard Air Force One on Sunday night en route back to Washington, D.C., after a weekend in Florida, said there "shouldn't be ambiguity" amid his administration's repeated about-faces on tariffs.

He said semiconductor tariffs “will be in place in the not distant future” and that he would announce at what rate “over the next week.”

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The president said on Saturday he would announce specifics on Monday.

Trump, when asked if he would declare tariffs on iPhones and tablets, said, "That’s going to be announced very soon" but that the administration is going to with companies about it because “you have to show a certain flexibility.”

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow


Apr 14, 2025 8:28 AM

China says electronics exemption is a ‘small step’

China says the Trump administration’s exemptions for smartphones, laptops and other electronics is a “small step” in correcting a “wrong practice,” urging the U.S. to completely cancel Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.

"We urge the US … to take a big step to correct its mistakes, completely cancel the wrong practice of 'reciprocal tariffs' and return to the right path of mutual respect," China's Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

Beijing is now “evaluating the impact” of the exemption, the statement said.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Hedge fund billionaire and vocal Trump supporter Bill Ackman posted on X today: “The rift is healing. China ‘asks’ for relief from the tariffs creating an opening for a 90-day China tariff pause and negotiations.” Ackman had earlier in the week urged Trump to pause those reciprocal tariffs shortly before the president announced the pause, warning that businesses would go bankrupt.

But on Sunday afternoon, Trump posted on Truth Social that tariffs on these products are “just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances,” the president added. “Especially not China, which, by far, treats us the worst!”

-ABC News’ Selina Wang


Apr 14, 2025 8:28 AM

Trump says tariff exemptions announced Friday aren't exceptions

Trump on Sunday said, “There was no Tariff ‘exemption’ announced on Friday" and that semiconductor tariffs will “just be moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s top economic and trade aides made the same argument on Sunday talk shows: that smartphones, computers and other electronics were removed from the sweeping reciprocal tariffs the president announced on April 2 and will be part of a separate national security classification under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 Trump is to announce, they said.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during the flight from Palm Beach to Miami aboard Air Force One, April 12, 2025.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

“We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations,” Trump wrote.

A bulletin posted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection late Friday night said the administration was exempting smartphones, computers, and other electronics from his reciprocal tariffs.

Trump did not push back Saturday night when a reporter asked for details on “exemptions.”

“I'll give you that answer on Monday. We’ll be very specific on Monday,” Trump said. “We're taking in a lot of money. As a country, we’re taking in a lot of money.”

-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow



Apr 13, 2025 3:37 AM

Trump says details on semiconductor tariffs plan coming Monday

President Donald Trump said he'll share more details on Monday on his plan for separate tariffs on semiconductor chips.

Asked about the plan by reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said, "We’ll be very specific on Monday. We're taking in a lot of money. As a country, we’re taking in a lot of money."

The comments came after the Trump administration announced that smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics would be exempt from the escalating tariffs Trump has imposed on other Chinese imports, which now stand at 145%.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow


Apr 09, 2025 7:43 PM

Senate Republicans clap and cheer at news of tariff changes

Clapping and cheering erupted during a closed lunch for Senate Republicans when news arrived that President Donald Trump had announced his change on tariffs, senators in the room said.

"I think it really lightened up the lunch discussion. I think we were all happy to see a hockey stick on the reports coming out of New York," Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said. "A lot of smiles."

Trump's announcement on Truth Social came as a surprise to several Republicans.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, the lead Republican on legislation that would require Congress to vote on new tariffs within 60 days of their implementation, called the announcement "good news."

PHOTO: A screen displays a trading chart on the New York Stock Exchange in New York City after the White House announced a 90-day pause & lowered 10% reciprocal tariff for other countries, April 9, 2025.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
A screen displays a trading chart on the New York Stock Exchange in New York City after the White House announced a 90-day pause & lowered 10% reciprocal tariff for other countries, April 9, 2025.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters

"It means that there is some moderation. Some predictability. Things are moving. It will bring credibility to the whole process," said Grassley, an Iowa Republican.

Still, there's some skepticism among members who have been more vocally critical of the tariffs over the last few weeks.

"The reality is that probably slows down any escalation, it doesn't do much for certainty," said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-S.C. "Now I think the next phase needs to be really moving quickly on deal flow for the major trading partners."

Tillis said the 90-day reduction may "calm the markets down" but that negotiations need to be solidified to ease business concerns.

"Why would why would any business adviser recommend to a board or to a CEO to deploy capital now when you don't know what the long-term cost is going to be and the tax environment?" Tillis said.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray and Allison Peccorin


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