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Apr 14, 2025
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Welcome back! President Donald Trump suggests new tariffs for chips and other electronics may be coming, after he recently exempted some electronics from tariff increases against China temporarily. China’s Ministry of Commerce urges the U.S. to “completely cancel” its reciprocal tariffs.
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President Donald Trump on Sunday indicated more tariff hikes were coming for semiconductors and other electronics items following an announcement late Friday that many would be exempt from recently announced tariff increases. “There was no Tariff “exception” announced on Friday,” Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social. “We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations.” Earlier Sunday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated that the exemptions to smartphone and semiconductor imports announced by the Trump administration late Friday were only temporary. “All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they’re going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored,” Lutnick said on ABC’s “This Week.” President Trump is “saying they’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” he
said.
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The Trump Administration late Friday said it would exempt smartphones and certain electronics components from its “reciprocal” tariff increases that increased levies on some items from China to as much as 145%. In a message from the Customs and Border Protection agency, the administration included nearly two dozen categories of electronics excluded from the tariff hikes, including laptops, flat-screen TVs, iPads, smartwatches, semiconductor equipment, and some semiconductors. The exemption should be good news for companies such as Apple, which faces steep cost hikes that the iPhone maker could pass on to consumers. The exemptions should also benefit U.S. hardware and chip makers such as HP, Dell, Qualcomm and Nvidia, said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for devices for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at
research firm IDC. It’s not clear yet how it will impact Chinese brands that export to the U.S. such as TV maker TCL and Lenovo, he said. (Updates with details on exempted products.)
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China’s Ministry of Commerce said Sunday that the country urges the U.S. to “completely cancel” its reciprocal tariffs. The ministry said in a statement that the Trump administration’s recent decision to temporarily exempt some electronics including smartphones from tariff increases against China is a “small step” for the U.S. in correcting its “wrong practice” of imposing the so-called “reciprocal tariffs.” The trade war between Washington and Beijing has intensified in the past few weeks, as the U.S. has raised its tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145%, prompting Beijing to also increase its tariffs on U.S. imports in retaliation. On Friday, the Trump administration said it would exempt smartphones, laptops and other electronics from the tariff increases. “There are no winners in a trade war and no way out for protectionism,” the Chinese ministry said. It also said the reciprocal tariffs “ignore the supply and demand relationship between countries” and “seriously undermine the international economic and trade order.”
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Meta Platforms on Friday announced it had named Dina Powell McCormick, a banking executive and former adviser to President Donald Trump, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison to its board of directors. “Patrick and Dina bring a lot of experience supporting businesses and entrepreneurs to our board,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. “Their perspective will be extremely valuable to businesses that rely on our services to grow.” McCormick and Collison’s terms start on April 15, and will bring to 15 the total number of members on Meta’s board. In addition to serving as deputy national security adviser during Trump’s first presidency, McCormick currently leads global client services at BDT & MSD Partners. Collison has advised Meta on its artificial intelligence products since May.
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IVP, the 45-year-old firm known for investments in Brex and Perplexity, is advising startup founders to re-adjust their annual budgets and raise capital, even if they have to forgo a valuation increase. “Liquidity matters more than valuation in an uncertain market and holding up for an up round is not a viable strategy if your business is going to need more capital,” said IVP general partner Ajay Vashee in Zoom presentation to portfolio founders and chief financial officers, as well as other investors. “If you’re in the camp to raise sooner versus later, our advice is take that option seriously and don’t delay.“ IVP’s advice, which hasn’t previously been reported, is some of the most pointed yet from venture capitalists about how startups should
manage their businesses as the Trump administration’s Chinese tariff hikes roil stock markets. Vashee said startups need to think about monthly budgets and ways to cut costs. “Your annual budget process no longer suffices in this kind of environment,” he said. “Think about if you have the right team, software tooling” in place, and consider using artificial intelligence applications to bring costs down.
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As Chinese exporters of consumer products face challenges due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, some of China’s biggest e-commerce companies are launching new initiatives to help export-oriented merchants sell their goods in the domestic market. JD.com, a major online retailer, on Friday announced a new program to purchase at least 200 billion yuan ($27.4 billion) worth of goods from Chinese exporters over the next 12 months and sell them to domestic consumers. Under the guidance of China’s Ministry of Commerce and other government agencies, JD.com will come up with various plans to support the country’s export-oriented businesses, the company said. Also on Friday, Freshippo, a fresh produce supermarket chain owned by Alibaba Group, said it is opening a new sales channel dedicated to Chinese exporters who
want to sell their products domestically. Freshippo said it will simplify and speed up the registration procedures for exporters who want to join its platform. The new moves by Chinese e-commerce giants came after the trade war between Washington and Beijing flared up in the past two weeks as Trump kept increasing U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports to as much as 145%. The Trump administration on Friday said it would exempt smartphones, laptops and other electronics from the tariff increases.
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A dozen former OpenAI employees argued in a court brief filed Friday that OpenAI’s nonprofit should remain in control of the Chat | | | |
