Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: President Trump to impose 'sectoral tariffs' on electronics

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Sunday that President Trump plans to levy a “focused” tariff on smartphones, laptops and other electronics — many manufactured in China — “in a month or two.”

The White House announced Friday it had exempted those products from the reciprocal tariffs Mr. Trump imposed on China. This allowed tech giants such as Apple to breathe a sigh of relief in the face of likely price hikes.

Mr. Lutnick said those exempted products are not off the hook and will be part of Mr. Trump’s planned “semiconductor sectoral tariffs.”

“We did that in autos. The president is going to do it for pharmaceuticals and he is going to do it for semiconductors,” Mr. Lutnick said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “So all those products are going to come under semiconductors and they are going to have a special focused type of tariff to make sure those products get reshored.”

Mr. Lutnick reiterated that smartphones, laptops and televisions made in China are “exempt from the reciprocal tariffs,” but they will be “included in the semiconductor tariffs that are coming probably in a month or two.”

The move comes amid a growing trade war between the United States and China. The tit-for-tay intensified last week after Beijing increased its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125% in response to Mr. Trump’s decision to increase the levy on Chinese goods to 145%.

The Trump administration’s announcement late Friday that it was carving out an exemption for certain products capped a turbulent market week. Officials signaled that the exempted electronics made in China are still subject to the 20% Mr. Trump put in place in response to the “illicit drug crisis.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump agreed last week to pause for 90 days the reciprocal tariffs he imposed on numerous other nations. He cited their willingness to negotiate.

He did leave in place a 10% tariff on all imports and levies on steel, aluminum and autos. Mr. Trump cited the turbulence on Wall Street.

He also has said he is waiting for Chinese President Xi Jinping to call him. “We are waiting for that call. It will happen!” Mr. Trump posted last week on Truth Social.

Huang Jingrui, spokesperson for the Hong Kong office of China’s Foreign Ministry, slammed the idea.

“We must solemnly tell the US: a tariff-wieding barbarian who attempts to force countries to call and beg for mercy can never expect that call from China,” Mr. Huang said in the South China Morning Post.