US President Donald Trump has made it clear that no one, including China, is “getting off the hook” when it comes to tariffs, despite his recent move to reduce some of the pressure by offering exemptions on certain electronic products.
On Saturday, Trump announced a list of temporary exemptions from tariffs that included popular electronic products such as smartphones, laptops, and components like semiconductors, solar cells, flash drives, and flat panel displays.
However, in a follow-up post on his Truth Social platform the next day, Trump clarified that these items are still under a different category of tariffs.
“There is no Tariff ‘exception’. Many products are still under a 20% rate in a different Tariff ‘bucket’,” he wrote. He also added, “We will not be held hostage by other countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China.”
The exemptions came as a slight relief to some American businesses and consumers, especially those reliant on electronics and tech imports. Despite that, Trump stressed that this should not be seen as a sign of weakness or retreat in his administration’s trade strategy.
China remains one of the largest suppliers of electronics to the U.S., but Trump’s policies have been aimed at reducing that dependency. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods have reached as high as 145 percent. In response, Beijing imposed its own tariffs, slapping a 125 percent rate on American products.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick supported Trump’s firm stance, noting that new tariffs, particularly those on semiconductors, would likely come into effect within the next couple of months.
Lutnick said more information would be revealed soon, with Trump expected to lay out “very specific” details in a statement on Monday.
