US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick has warned that smartphones, computers and other electronics imported to America from China will still face tariffs, dealing a blow to hopes of a reprieve for Big Tech companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.

US president Donald Trump’s administration this weekend excluded phones and other consumer electronics from steep “reciprocal” tariffs in what was a significant boost for tech groups whose stocks plunged after the president unleashed a global trade war on “liberation day”.

But speaking on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Mr Lutnick said such products would be re-examined as part of a government probe into semiconductors, which face a separate round of tariffs. Aime Williams and Danie Thomas report.