Samsung, Apple smartphones exempt as Trump excludes key tech products from tariffs
Published: 13 Apr. 2025, 14:40
![An Apple Store employee walks past an illustration of iPhones at the new Apple Carnegie Library during the grand opening and media preview in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/04/13/fa2b7a61-bf4d-4989-a865-9989bf010271.jpg)
An Apple Store employee walks past an illustration of iPhones at the new Apple Carnegie Library during the grand opening and media preview in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2019. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
U.S. President Donald Trump has excluded a number of key consumer and tech products — including smartphones, laptop computers and semiconductor manufacturing equipment — from the list of items subject to reciprocal tariffs.
The announcement was made official by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which posted a notice titled “Guidance on Tariff Exemptions for Specific Items” on its website at 10:36 p.m. on Friday.
According to the CBP notice, exempted items include smartphones, laptops, hard disk drives, computer processors, memory chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
The decision is widely interpreted as an effort to avoid domestic consumer backlash, particularly over potential price surges for popular electronics such as Apple’s iPhones and Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphones. Imposing high tariffs on such widely used products could directly affect consumer prices in the United States.
Currently, Apple produces roughly 90 percent of its iPhones in China, with the remaining production distributed across India, Vietnam, Brazil and other countries. Analysts have warned that if the iPhones manufactured in China were subjected to a 145 percent tariff — combining an existing 20 percent fentanyl-related tariff and a newly proposed 125 percent reciprocal tariff — the U.S. retail price of an iPhone 16 Pro Max could soar from its current $1,199 to approximately $2,937.
![People gather around a table of iPhones at an Apple Store in Pittsburgh on Jan. 8. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/04/13/270b0dd5-6564-44cd-bc36-9ff9a4e381e0.jpg)
People gather around a table of iPhones at an Apple Store in Pittsburgh on Jan. 8. [AP/YONHAP]
This would represent more than a 2.5-fold increase, pricing many consumers out of the market.
Under the newly announced exemption, iPhones will not be subject to reciprocal tariffs for the time being. However, it remains unclear whether Chinese-manufactured smartphones will still be affected by other tariffs. President Trump has separately imposed a “10 percent plus 10 percent” tariff in connection with China’s export of fentanyl precursors, and it is not yet confirmed whether that penalty will be applied to smartphones.
In a report published on Saturday, Bloomberg News noted that the exemption would benefit companies such as Samsung Electronics, Apple and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
The report added, however, that the tariff relief for smartphones and laptops may be temporary, and other forms of tariffs could soon be imposed.
Even if new tariffs are introduced, analysts expect that they will likely carry lower rates than the 125 percent reciprocal tariff currently in effect for many other Chinese-made goods.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KANG TAE-HWA [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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