WASHINGTON – President Trump said on Sunday he would announce tariff rates on imported semiconductors next week, adding that some companies in the sector are flexible.
The president’s pledge means that the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his mutual tariffs on China is likely to be short-lived as Trump tries to reset trade in the semiconductor sector.
“We wanted to synthesize it from a lot of other companies because we want to make chips, semiconductors, etc. from our country,” Trump told reporters on Air Force 1 as he returns to Washington from his West Palm Beach property.
Trump declined to say whether some products, such as smartphones, could still be exempt, but added, “We have to show certain flexibility. No one should be so rigid.”
Earlier that day, Trump announced a national security trade investigation into the semiconductor sector.
“We look at the entire semiconductor and electronics supply chain in future national security tariff investigations,” he posted on social media.
The White House announced its sudden mutual tariff exclusion on Friday, creating hope that the tech industry can escape, leading to two countries and the competition for everyday consumer products such as mobile phones and laptops to remain affordable.
But Trump’s Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick revealed earlier Sunday that key technology products from China will face separate new duties along with semiconductors within the next two months.
Last week’s tariffs Trump has caused Wall Street’s wildest swing since the 2020 Covid pandemic.
Lutnick said Trump will enact a “special focus” on smartphones, computers and other electronic products in a month or two, along with tariffs in the sector targeted at semiconductors and drugs. The new obligation fell outside Trump’s so-called mutual tariffs, and rose to 125% last week, under which China’s imports were collected, he said.
“He says he’s exempt from mutual tariffs, but it’s included in semiconductor tariffs that will likely come in one or two months,” Lutnick predicted in an interview with ABC “this week” that taxation will bring production of these products to the US.
Beijing has increased The US’s own tariffs will be imported to 125% on Friday accordingly. On Sunday, before Lutonic’s comment, China said it was assessing the impact of exclusion of technology products implemented on Friday.
“The tiger’s neck bell can only be unraveled by the person who tied it,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said.
Bill Ackman, who approved Trump’s run for the president on Sunday, as Trump did in most countries last week, but criticised the fees, called on him to suspend China’s broad, rough mutual tariffs for three months.
If Trump suspends Chinese tariffs for 90 days and temporarily cuts them to 10%, “he would achieve the same goal of US companies moving supply chains from China without any disruption and risk,” Ackman wrote to X.
“Change every day”
Northmantrader founder and lead market strategist Sven Henrich was harshly critical of how tariff issues were being handled on Sunday.
“Sentiment Check: The biggest gathering of the year will come the day Latnic is fired,” Henrich wrote to X.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) criticized the latest revision to Trump’s tariff plans. Economists warn that it could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.
“There’s no tariff policy, it’s just chaos and corruption,” Warren said on ABC’s “this week” before Trump’s latest post on social media.
in Notification to shippers Late Friday, the US Customs and Border Patrol released a list of customs codes excluded from import taxes. It had 20 product categories including computers, laptops, disk drives, semiconductor devices, memory chips, and flat panel displays.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the US opened an invitation to talks with China, but criticised the connection with China with the deadly fentanyl supply chain, and was not included in the list of seven beings.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said CBS’s “facing the people” and that Trump has yet to plan to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping about tariffs, accusing China of creating trade frictions in response to its own taxation. However, he expressed his hopes for several Chinese trades.
“My goal is to get a meaningful deal 90 days in advance. I think I’ll be with some countries in the coming weeks,” Greer said.
Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund billionaire, told NBC’s “publishings” he was worried that the US might end up in a recession as a result of tariffs, or even worse.
“We’re at the point of decision making right now and very close to a recession,” Dario said on Sunday. “And if this isn’t handled well, I’m worried that it’s worse than a recession.”
