(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump plans to announce tariffs on semiconductor chips “over the next week” but has suggested there would be “flexibility” for some companies.
The move comes after the White House indicated it would exempt some smartphones and computers from sweeping tariffs.
On Friday, the White House listed semiconductors as exempt from Trump’s latest tariffs. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said over the weekend that relief is “temporary.”
The back-and-forth did not seem to affect Wall Street on Monday. Stock futures were in the green after a volatile week in which the nation’s indices hit historic highs and lows.
“The tariffs will be in place in the not-distant future. Because, as you know, like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum … we’ll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips and numerous other things,” Trump said on Sunday.
When asked by reporters what the tariff rate would be for semiconductors, Trump said, “I’m going to be announcing it over the next week.”
Trump said there was no tech tariff “exception” for China and that its tech products are still subject to the existing 20% tariffs linked to the fentanyl crisis.
“NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’ for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” Trump posted on social media.
Trump has maintained he has a good relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Meanwhile, Xi is cozying up to U.S. allies such as Vietnam and calling for stronger ties.
Chinese officials over the weekend said they were assessing the impact of the tariff exemptions and said the measures are a “small step for the U.S. side.”
“We all expect that the president of the United States and President Xi of China will work this out,” Lutnick said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”
White House officials denied to NewsNation that the United States is in a trade war and said that Trump is hopeful Xi will call to negotiate.
