The Trump administration dealt out a happy news on Friday, exempting a range of electronic devices from tariffs implemented earlier this month. But now it seems like the United States is pulling a U-turn on the short-lived relief. On Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the previous decision was only temporary, further teasing the “semiconductor tariffs” that would set in place in “a month of two.”

Big tech companies like Apple, Samsung, Nvidia were especially going to benefit from the exemptions after facing hefty losses at the stock market as a consequence of the Trump tariffs unveiled on Liberation Day. These tech giants rely on Chinese factories for manufacturing key components. Flipping the narrative, Lutnick’s recent announcement reiterated the “need to have things made in America.”

US commerce secretary confirms semiconductor tariffs will be in place soon

“All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they’re going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored. We need to have semiconductors, we need to have chips, and we need to have flat panels — we need to have these things made in America. We can’t be reliant on Southeast Asia for all the things that operate for us,” the US commerce secretary told ABC’s ‘This Week’ anchor Jonathan Karl.

Explaining how the contradictory claims work, Howard Lutnick came clean, “So what [President Donald Trump’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 in a month or two. So these are coming soon.”

Prior to Lutnick’s declaration, the US Customs and Border Protection bulletin said numerous electronics, including smartphones, computers, and semiconductor-based storage devices, would be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs. However, with the White House focussing all its energy on pushing for the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries to move their business to the US, Lutnick said “a tariff model… to encourage” the same would be implemented soon.

“We can’t be beholden and rely upon foreign countries for fundamental things that we need,” he continued. “So this is not like a permanent sort of exemption. He’s just clarifying that these are not available to be negotiated away by countries. These are things that are national security that we need to be made in America.”

What Donald Trump and other officials said on the semiconductor tariffs issue

Trump, on his part, took to social media on Sunday to briefly address the issue. He drove attention to how his next investigation would be centered around “taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONIC SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tarif Investigations.”

“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” he added.

( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Apr 13, 2025, 3:36 PM ET )

NOBODY is getting “off the hook” for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the… pic.twitter.com/FEP2e7Rgqi

— Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) April 13, 2025

Clarifying that tariffs on semiconductors would be announced “over the next week,” Trump also highlighted “some flexibility” when asked about levies on iPhones. Without revealing full details, the US president established that “flexibility” relief may be extended to some companies. He didn’t specify further.

Similarly, the White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told CNN, “Semiconductors are a key important part of a lot of defence equipment,” adding “I don’t think anything really should be a surprise.”

Meanwhile, Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative described switch decision related to semiconductors as a mechanical change. On CBS’s ‘Face the Nation,’ he said it’s “not that they won’t be subject to tariffs,” but that they are being considered under a “different regime.”