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US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
US President Donald Trump says Chinese-made
smartphones and other electronics will not be exempted from tariffs, but moving
them into a different levy bucket.
European stock markets bounced up on Monday
morning after Friday's official announcement that some of these products would
escape levies of up to 145%.
China has called on Donald Trump to completely
cancel his tariffs regime, and return to the right path of mutual respect.
However, US officials revealed that the
products would be subject to a semi-conductor tariff instead, with Trump
expected to reveal more details later.
US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick said the
new levy would be in addition to host of global tariffs the US imposed earlier
this month, then paused for 90 days.
A US customs notice revealed smartphones,
computers and some other electronic devices would be excluded from the 125%
tariff on goods entering the country from China.
But Trump chimed in on social media, saying
there was no exemption for these products and called such reports about this
notice false; instead, he said that they are just moving them to a different
Tariff class.
Everyday devices such as smartphones and
laptops rely on semi-conductors, which are small and powerful pieces of tech
that form the basic building blocks of modern computation.
On Monday, Sony announced that it was
increasing the price of its flagship games console, the PlayStation 5, by about
10% in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, citing a challenging economic
environment, inflation and fluctuating exchange rates, though it did not
announce price rises in the United States.
The Chinese commerce ministry had called
Trump's exemptions a small step by the US, and said that Beijing was evaluating
the impact of the move.
But the suggestion by Trump administration
officials of plans for future levies may dampen hopes of a thaw in the two
rivals' protectionist posture.
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was
asked whether there were any plans for Trump to speak with his Chinese counterpart,
Xi Jinping, however, responded during an appearance on CBS's Face the Nation that
right now they don't have any plans on that.
Trump imposed a tariff amounting to 54% on
imports of products from China at the beginning of April, before escalating to
the current 145% rate.
In its own tit-for-tat tariffs, China imposed
levies of 34% on US goods, before increasing it to 84% and then 125%, which
took effect on Saturday.
In announcing its latest tariffs, China's
commerce ministry said last week that it would fight to the end if the US insists
on provoking a tariff or trade war.
Late on Saturday, while travelling to Miami,
Florida, Trump said he would give more details of the exemptions at the start
of this week.