by David Lawder and Jeff Mason

Washington/West Palm Beach, Florida (Reuters) -the United States has decided to exempt from their “reciprocal” customs duties smartphones, computers and various other types of electronic devices often imported from China, an exception granted by Donald Trump in his vast trade war triggered against Beijing.

The American customs services published during the night a list of product categories benefiting from these exemptions, applicable retroactively since April 5, without providing an explanation for these advantages.

This list relates in particular to all computers, laptops, hard drives, automatic data processing systems, memory chips, semiconductor equipment or flat screens.

This exemption relates only to reciprocal customs duties, which Donald Trump brought 125% on Wednesday against China, struck in total to 145% including other previously announced surcharge. The latter, 20%, remains in force, said a White House official.

The Trump administration will however soon open a national security survey concerning semiconductors, which could lead to new customs duties specific to this sector, added this official.

Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the White House, also said in a statement that Donald Trump was obviously judged that the United States could not depend on China for the manufacture of essential technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones and laptops.

She added that, on the initiative of the American president, giants of the technological sector such as Apple or the manufacturers of semiconductors Nvidia and Taiwan semiconductor “are working to repatriate as quickly as possible their production in the United States”.

While Washington and Beijing have embarked on an climbing of customs rights since early April, the exemptions announced on electronic devices seem to be aware of an awareness within the Trump administration on the effects of this trade war for American consumers, worried to see prices of daily use products such as smartphones.

Even with 54% customs duties on Chinese imports, analysts estimate that the price of a high-end Apple iPhone could leap in the United States from 1,599 to 2,300 dollars. At a rate of 125%, economists and analysts think that exchanges between the United States and China could largely stop.

Smartphones were the most imported product in China in the United States in 2024, for an overall value of $ 41.7 billion (36.7 billion euros), ahead of laptops at 33.1 billion, according to official American data.

(David Lawder in Washington, Jeff Mason in West Palm Beach, Florida, with Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Bertrand Boucey)

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