The US Customs and Border Protection has released new guidelines that specify certain technology devices and components will be exempt from reciprocal tariffs initiated by US President Donald Trump. The latest notice comes as previous action had raised significant concerns for technology companies, most notably Apple, which manufactures the majority of its iPhones and other products within China.
According to a report by CNBC, the information was disseminated late Friday (April 11) evening. The latest guidance is a direct response to President Trump’s earlier decision to impose a 145% tariff on products originating from China.
Phones, PCs, chips exempted from Trump’s reciprocal tariffs
The newly-issued tariff guidance identifies a range of electronics that will receive exclusions. This list includes laptops, semiconductors, solar cells, flat panel television displays, flash drives, memory cards, and solid-state drives, all of which are used for data storage.
Notably, these products may be subject to future duties. These exemptions represent a somewhat favourable outcome for technology companies such as Apple. As per data from Evercore ISI, Apple manufactures over 80% of its products in China, including 80% of iPads and more than half of its Mac computers.
Recently, Apple experienced a loss of over $640 billion in market value in the period following President Trump’s tariff announcement.
Moreover, Apple reportedly chartered multiple cargo flights to ship an estimated 1.5 million iPhones, weighing approximately 600 tons, from India to the US. This move aimed at ramping up inventory in the home country to mitigate the potential impact of tariffs previously threatened by Trump.
