According to Friday's US Customs notice, President Trump gave Chinese electronics a pass on new reciprocal tariffs. The exemption covers smartphones, monitors, semiconductors, electronic parts, and high-performance GPUs arriving after April 5. Tech companies feared major cost increases without this carveout. Apple makes about 90 percent of iPhones in China and keeps six weeks of inventory in American warehouses. Framework paused sales of some laptop models after a different 10 percent tariff on Taiwanese parts cut into profits.
Graphics card makers received another advantage through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Research firm SemiAnalysis noted that Taiwanese GPUs can avoid tariffs if they undergo final assembly in Mexico or Canada. This benefits companies using NVIDIA accelerators for artificial intelligence projects. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described these actions as providing short-term consumer relief alongside encouraging tech investment in American manufacturing.
Trump later posted on Truth Social that these products face existing 20 percent Fentanyl Tariffs but moved to a different classification. He added that semiconductors and the entire electronics supply chain remain under review in upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations. Experts caution that building domestic production capacity for precision components could require years and remain more expensive than Asian manufacturing.
Graphics card makers received another advantage through the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Research firm SemiAnalysis noted that Taiwanese GPUs can avoid tariffs if they undergo final assembly in Mexico or Canada. This benefits companies using NVIDIA accelerators for artificial intelligence projects. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described these actions as providing short-term consumer relief alongside encouraging tech investment in American manufacturing.
Trump later posted on Truth Social that these products face existing 20 percent Fentanyl Tariffs but moved to a different classification. He added that semiconductors and the entire electronics supply chain remain under review in upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations. Experts caution that building domestic production capacity for precision components could require years and remain more expensive than Asian manufacturing.
