“White House: US Cannot Rely on China for Supply of Key Products Such as Chips”

The United States announced the exemption of equivalent tariffs on products such as smartphones, computers, and chips. The White House stated on Saturday (April 12th) that President Trump made it clear that the U.S. cannot rely on China to manufacture these key products.

On Friday (April 11th), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a list of exemptions, reducing the scope of the new tariffs. These exemptions will apply to computers, servers, smartphones, printers, chip manufacturing equipment, wireless communication equipment (such as base stations, routers, etc.), storage devices, displays, chip-related devices, integrated circuits, and more.

White House spokesperson, Levi, issued a statement after the exemption list was released, stating, “President Trump has made it clear that the U.S. cannot rely on China to produce semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops among other key technologies. As a result, the President has secured billions of dollars in U.S. investments from global tech giants such as Apple, TSMC, and NVIDIA. Following the President’s directives, these companies are swiftly moving their manufacturing operations to the U.S.”

According to CNN, a White House official stated, “The President has mentioned that automobiles, steel, pharmaceuticals, chips, and other specific materials will be subject to specific tariffs to ensure the effective implementation of fair tariffs.”

The official also mentioned that Trump will soon issue an order to investigate the impact of semiconductor imports on national security.