Hopes of a tariff climbdown by Donald Trump were dashed again last night after one of his top advisers said exempted tech firms will be whacked with levies within months.
The US President made an extraordinary U-turn over the weekend by declaring that smartphones, computers and other electronic devices will be exempted from tariffs, including the 145 per cent he had charged on China imports.
But in another chaotic development, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the goods were likely to be hit soon.
He added: ‘What he’s doing is he’s saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs. But they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two.
‘We need our medicines and we need semiconductors and our electronics to be built in America.’
And in a post on his Truth Social platform last night, Mr Trump said semiconductors, computers and smartphones from China will still be subject to 20 per cent tariffs.
He said no-one was getting ‘off the hook’ for unfair trade.
Mr Trump’s tariff announcements have triggered chaos on the stock markets as countries and investors react to mixed signals from the White House.
Donald Trump’s (pictured) tariff announcements have triggered chaos on the stock markets as countries and investors react to mixed signals from the White House
Mr Trump said semiconductors, computers and smartphones from China will still be subject to 20 per cent tariffs
In another chaotic development, US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick (pictured) said the goods were likely to be hit soon
The President continues to face calls from leading supporters and donors to reverse his policy amid fears of another major Wall Street sell-off this week.
Financier Bill Ackman called for a 90-day pause on the heaviest tariffs on China, urging Mr Trump to offer a reprieve to smaller businesses.
The billionaire hedge fund manager said: ‘The problem is that there remain millions of small and medium-sized US businesses that suffer from an ability to adapt to the tariffs on China overnight.’
A pause would ‘achieve the same objective in causing US businesses to relocate their supply chains from China without the disruption and risk to these businesses in the short term’, Mr Ackman added.
Temporarily reducing tariffs from 145 per cent to 10 per cent would allow time to negotiate a deal with China, he argued.
Meanwhile, China amped up pressure on the President to ‘completely cancel’ the tariffs.
In the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that the tariffs will have a ‘profound’ impact, saying she is ‘under no illusion about the difficulties that lie ahead’.
She told The Observer that the UK will argue for a ‘more balanced global economic and trading system’ that ‘recognises the benefits of free trade’, in an effective rejection of Mr Trump’s protectionism.
Financier Bill Ackman (pictured) called for a 90-day pause on the heaviest tariffs on China, urging Mr Trump to offer a reprieve to smaller businesses
Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) warned that the tariffs will have a ‘profound’ impact, saying she is ‘under no illusion about the difficulties that lie ahead’
She stressed she wants ‘an ambitious new relationship with the EU’ as well as closer links with countries such as India.
The Government has said import levies on 89 products such as pine nuts and plywood will be temporarily suspended, saving UK businesses at least £17 million a year.
The White House said: ‘President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones and laptops.
‘At the direction of the President, these companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.’
Downing Street signalled its relief when the President’s ‘Liberation Day’ assault was originally mounted.
The UK was targeted with only the ‘baseline’ 10 per cent – as well as the worldwide 25 per cent charge on imports of cars, steel and aluminium.
However, last week Mr Trump postponed much tougher ‘reciprocal’ levies on the EU and a swathe of other trading partners as stock markets went into freefall.
This has left the UK’s position looking less attractive than some other countries.
