'No one is getting off the hook' from tariffs, Trump insists, after US officials say smartphones and laptops exempt
13 April 2025, 23:13 | Updated: 14 April 2025, 09:13
Donald Trump has insisted that "no one is off the hook" from tariffs, after officials said on Friday that smartphones, laptops and some electronic components were exempt.
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The US president said this rule "especially" applied to China, "which, by far, treats us the worst!"
The US government suggested on Friday evening that phones and other electronic goods would not be part of the 10% import taxes imposed on most countries, nor on China, which faces 145% tariffs.
Taking to his social network TruthSocial, Mr Trump said: "There was no Tariff “exception” announced on Friday. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff “bucket.”
He added: "We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.
"What has been exposed is that we need to make products in the United States, and that we will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China, which will do everything within its power to disrespect the American People."
It comes amid concerns that Trump's tariffs would cause the cost of electronics parts to skyrocket.
According to the announcement on Friday that Mr Trump appears to be rowing back from key components such as semiconductors and memory cards were to be exempt.
The announcement, made late on Friday, appeared set to benefit big tech companies such as Apple and Samsung.
Over 80% of Apple products are said to be made in China, including over 80% of iPads and half of Mac computers.
Read more: UK would need ‘extraordinary’ deal to improve 10% tariff, Trump adviser suggests
The US is a huge market for Apple products, so an import tax that would hit China heavily would have a major impact.
Apple's stock price has plunged since the tariff announcement.
The aim of tariffs was to boost the US economy and the manufacturing sector in particular, but experts warned that it would take years to ramp up production to meet demand.
Meanwhile an adviser to the president suggested that it would take an "extraordinary deal" for the UK to improve on the 10% tariff Mr Trump announced earlier this month.
Sir Keir Starmer's government still hopes an economic deal with America can be reached to soften the blow of tariffs.
Most countries now face the same 10% rate as the UK on importing goods to America after the US president temporarily halted the sweeping "retaliatory" tariffs which had sent global markets into turmoil.
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Kevin Hassett, a senior economic adviser to Mr Trump, said any deal that would persuade the president to go below that would need to be "extraordinary".
"I think everybody expects that the 10% baseline tariff is going to be the baseline," he told CNBC.
"It is going to take some kind of extraordinary deal for the president to go below there."
He said the White House was in negotiations with around 20 countries and that two deals were almost closed.
The Prime Minister earlier said his team were in contact with Mr Trump's team every day.