Tariff exemption on electronics will go away 'in a month or two': U.S. Commerce Secretary
Published: 13 Apr. 2025, 23:49
Updated: 14 Apr. 2025, 00:09
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- YOON SO-YEON
- [email protected]
![U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on board Air Force One, en route to Miami on April 3. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/14/9f2a79ae-ed2f-4714-8c43-481547c86db7.jpg)
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on board Air Force One, en route to Miami on April 3. [AP/YONHAP]
The sigh of relief from Samsung Electronics may soon turn into agitation as U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced Sunday that the tariff exemption on electronic devices such as smartphones was only temporary and would likely go away in "a month or two."
According to Lutnick, electronic devices will be subject to semiconductor tariffs that within the next couple of months "to encourage" the semiconductor industry to move its business to the U.S.
"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," Lutnick told ABC in an interview on Sunday.
"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," Lutnick said. "We can't be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us."
The news comes only two days after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that 20 categories of products — including smartphones, laptops, memory and semiconductor manufacturing equipment — would be exempt from the current reciprocal tariff regime.
![Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick holds a chart as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2 in Washington. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/14/c56b7b4c-9fb9-469d-927b-81321e3c0b07.jpg)
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick holds a chart as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House on April 2 in Washington. [AP/YONHAP]
BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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