The US president says there are no tariff exemptions for electronic items, but that they fall under a separate category.
US President Donald Trump has said that no one is “getting off the hook” after he appeared to dial down the pressure on China slightly by listing tariff exemptions for electronic products for which Beijing is a major exporter to the United States.
In the latest global trade war twist and turn from the Trump administration, the president asserted on Sunday that there was “no Tariff ‘exception’”, as smartphones, laptops and other products remained subject to a 20 percent rate in “a different Tariff ‘bucket’”.
“We will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said he would give “very specific” details on Monday, while US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said semiconductor tariffs would likely be in place “in a month or two”.
Trump said pharmaceutical products would “also be outside the reciprocal tariffs,” using an administration term for tariffs aimed at bringing all US trade imbalances to zero.
Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent band on US imports.
Beijing had initially welcomed Washington’s exemptions, calling them a “small step” in the right direction and insisting that the Trump administration should “completely cancel” the whole tariff strategy.
With Trump’s latest comments, that now may have been premature, and the world’s two largest economies remain locked in a bitter struggle.
The US president has sent financial markets tumbling by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners, only to abruptly announce a 90-day pause for most of them.
The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first.