Donald Trump has exempted iPhone, laptops and some other electronic devices from reciprocal tariffs, including the 125 per cent levies imposed on Chinese imports, in a surprise U-turn.
It comes amid concerns from US tech companies that the price of gadgets could skyrocket and handsets triple if the costs had been passed on to consumers.
US Customs and Border Protection said items like smartphones, computers, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and some chips would qualify for the exemption.
The decision by President Trump’s administration will benefit big tech companies like Apple and Samsung and chip makers such as Nvidia and sets the stage for a likely stock rally on Monday.
It’s the latest tariff change by the White House and the first significant reprieve of any kind on China.
One trade analyst described it as a “game changer scenario”.
Trump’s team has made several U-turns in their massive plan to put tariffs in place on goods from most countries.
The exemption seemed to reflect his realisation that Chinese levies are unlikely to shift more manufacturing of smartphones, computers and other gadgets to the US any time soon, if ever.
They had hoped to prod Apple to make iPhones in America for the first time.
But that was an unlikely scenario after the company spent decades building up a finely calibrated supply chain in China.
The tariff turmoil battered stocks of tech’s “Magnificent Seven” - Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta Platforms.
At one point earlier this week, their combined market value had plunged by $2.1 trillion (£1.6tn) or 14 per cent.
The electronics exemption is the kind of friendly treatment that industry was envisioning when Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Google boss Sundar Pichai, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos assembled behind the president during his January inauguration.
Neither Apple not Samsung responded to a request for comment on Saturday.
Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “This is the dream scenario for tech investors.
“Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs.”
In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops.
“At the direction of the President, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”
Trump, who is spending the weekend at his Florida home, told reporters on Friday he was comfortable with the high tariffs on China, adding “something positive is going to come out of that” suggesting his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
