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Stock photo of a smartphone, tablet and laptop by Daboost via Canva.
By Auzinea Bacon, CNN
(CNN) — Electronics imported to the United States will be exempt from President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, according to a US Customs and Border Protection notice posted late Friday.
Smartphones, computer monitors and various electronic parts are among the exempted products. The exemption applies to products entering the United States or removed from warehouses as early as April 5, according to the notice.
The move comes after the Trump administration imposed a minimum tariff rate of 145% on Chinese goods imported to the United States. The tariffs would have a major impact on tech giants like Apple, which make iPhones and other products in China.
Roughly 90% of Apple’s iPhone production and assembly is based in China, according to Wedbush Securities’ estimates.
Analysts at Wedbush on Saturday called the tariff exclusion, “the best news possible for tech investors.”
“Big Tech firms like Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft and the broader tech industry can breathe a huge sigh of relief this weekend into Monday,” Wedbush said in a statement. “A big step forward for US tech to get these exemptions and the most bullish news we could have heard this weekend… now onto the next step in negotiations on the broader China tariff war which will take a number of months at least.”
Nvidia declined to comment to CNN. Microsoft and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Counterpoint Research, a firm that monitors global smartphone shipments, estimated Apple has up to six weeks of inventory in the United States. Once that supply runs out, prices would have been expected to go up.
President Donald Trump had told reporters Friday on Air Force One that there could be possible exclusions to his sweeping tariffs.
“There could be a couple of exceptions for obvious reasons, but I would say 10% is a floor,” Trump said.
The White House has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Economists have warned the cost of tariffs may ultimately be passed on to the consumer. That fear has sent many Americans rushing to buy big-ticket items, such as cars and electronics, as consumer sentiment has dropped to record lows.
Nintendo said on April 4 that it would postpone the US preorder date of its Switch 2 gaming console to “assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.” Initially priced at $450, the Switch 2 could instead cost around $600 as a result of tariffs, according to experts.
The Trump administration says these tariffs would bring more manufacturing jobs to the United States and reverse a decades-long decline. But some products can’t be easily made or found in the United States, thus increasing the costs to produce them in American factories.
Semiconductors and microchips are among the products heavily outsourced to factories in Asia due to lower costs. Those electronic parts are now exempt, according to the Friday notice. That could help Asian chipmakers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix.
At a Republican National Congressional Committee event on Tuesday, Trump criticized the Biden administration’s decision to award a $6.6 billion grant to TSMC for semiconductor production in Phoenix as part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. Trump said he gave TSMC no money and told the company “if you don’t build your plant here, you’re going to pay a big tax — 25, maybe 50, maybe 75, maybe 100%.”
The-CNN-Wire
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