What happened
President Donald Trump said Sunday that the tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices that his administration quietly rolled out late Friday were only temporary. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on ABC's "This Week" that electronics imports would be taxed under a new tariff on semiconductors "in probably a month or two," along with levies for pharmaceuticals.
Who said what
Trump's trade advisers were "out in force across the television networks" Sunday trying to "project confidence and calm" after "another week of reeling markets" fueled by "Trump's on-again, off-again approach to tariffs," The Associated Press said. But "their explanations about the overall agenda" mirrored Trump's "shifting narratives" on strategy and goals.
"Nobody is getting 'off the hook'" on tariffs, "especially not China," Trump said on social media Sunday. "There was no tariff 'exception' announced on Friday," because electronics are "subject to the existing 20% fentanyl tariffs" on China, and "they are just moving to a different tariff 'bucket'" aimed at reshoring "semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain."
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What next?
Tech investors had "briefly rejoiced" at the exemption for electronics, The Wall Street Journal said, but the "string of mixed signals" from Trump and his team over the weekend "fueled fresh uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, setting up another chaotic week on Wall Street and in Washington."
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