The exemptions of technological rates are only temporary, according to Trump's secretary of Commerce

The technology industry may not be safe from new tariffs, according to the United States Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick.

The Trump administration announced Friday night that consumer electronics such as laptops and smartphones would be exempt from the rates it revealed earlier this month. (While Trump delayed many of those rates This week, he left a 10% reference rate instead, and also raised an additional 125% rate on Chinese products).

<a target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/technology/trump-electronics-tariffs.html”>Reports on exemptions He pointed out that technological products could still be affected by specific tariffs to come, with semiconductors that are under particular scrutiny.

Lutnick made him more explicit on Sunday morning during An interview With the ABC “This Week” program, saying that Trump is making these products “exempt from reciprocal tariffs” but include them in “semiconductor rates, which are probably arriving in a month or two.”

“All these products will be low semiconductors, and they will have a special type of approach rate to ensure that these products are reformulated,” Lutnick said. “We need to have semiconductors, we need to have fried potatoes and need to have flat panels; we need to have these things done in the United States.”

Pressing about whether tariffs will mean higher prices for American consumers, Lutnick said: “I don't think so,” and again he emphasized: “I think the idea is that we can manufacture in the United States.” (Others have said Lutnick vision that “the army of millions and millions of human beings that are screwed into small screws to make iPhones, that kind of thing will come to America,” is A fantasy.

Trump himself was He was asked about semiconductor rates This weekend, and he said: “I will give you that answer on Monday.”