Smartphones, Computers Exempt from Trump’s New Tariffs: Report

In a last-minute move that comes as a big relief for the tech world, smartphones, computer monitors, and various electronic parts have been officially exempted from President Donald Trump’s latest round of sweeping tariffs, CNN reported on Saturday.

According to a notice posted Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the exemption is effective retroactively from April 5, the report said. That means any qualifying electronics entering the U.S. or coming out of bonded warehouses from that date won’t be hit with the hefty new tariff rates.

The decision came after the Trump administration’s imposition of a minimum 145% tariff on a wide range of Chinese goods — a move that had raised alarms for tech giants, particularly Apple.  Nearly 90% of Apple’s iPhone production and assembly is based in China, the CNN report said, citing estimates from Wedbush Securities.

According to the report, analysts at Counterpoint Research have estimated that Apple currently has about six weeks of iPhone inventory in the US, and once that buffer is gone, consumers could start seeing higher price tags in the absence of a long-term solution.

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