Smartphone tariffs are coming back in ‘a month or two,’ says Trump admin
- Smartphone tariffs are expected to be reinstated within a month or two, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
- The Trump administration had previously exempted smartphones and laptops from tariffs imposed on Chinese-produced goods, but will now subject them to a “special focus type of tariff” similar to automotive tariffs.
- Products like iPhones, which are often built in China, will be included in the new tariffs, with the goal of encouraging manufacturers to “reshore” and build products in America.
- The administration believes that this move will help stimulate domestic manufacturing, citing examples such as Panasonic’s new factory in Kansas, which was announced during Trump’s presidency but is now being completed under Biden-era incentives.
- Commerce Secretary Lutnick downplayed concerns about higher prices for goods in the US, suggesting that the goal of the tariffs is to encourage manufacturers to build products domestically rather than relying on imports from China.
Smartphones, laptops, and other products that are exempt from Trump’s April 9th tariffs will be lumped in with duties on semiconductors in “a month or two,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told ABC News anchor Jonathan Karl on This Week.
Yesterday, the Trump administration released updated guidance that excluded smartphones, laptops, and more from Trump’s new tariffs, including the 125 percent additional levy on Chinese-produced goods last week.
“This is not like a permanent sort of exemption,” Lutnick told Karl, saying that they will be subject later to “a special focus type of tariff” applied to the semiconductor industry, similar to automotive tariffs Trump has already issued.
When asked if the new tariffs will include products like iPhones, many of which are built in China, Lutnick said that’s “correct” and that the goal is to “encourage them to reshore, to be built in America.”
”It’s not like you can open a factory tomorrow to build iPhones,” Karl said, before asking if these coming tariffs will mean higher prices for goods in the US.
Lutnick responded:
I don’t necessarily think so. I think the idea is that we can manufacture here in America. As I said, there’s a — I saw Panasonic, the battery company. Right? A Japanese company. They built an amazing factory in Kansas, which they’re opening now. They were putting it in the ground when Donald Trump was President, just finishing now.
Lutnick may be referring to an EV plant Panasonic announced it had broken ground on in November 2022. Panasonic reportedly stands to gain billions in incentives for the plant under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump has threatened to “rescind all unspent funds” from.