Trump’s commerce secretary says electronics tariff exemptions are temporary

Donald Trump (Pool via AP)

Tariff exemptions on electronics like smartphones and laptops are only a temporary reprieve until the Trump administration develops a new approach specific to the semiconductor industry, an official has said.

White House officials, including President Donald Trump himself, spent Sunday downplaying the significance of exemptions that lessen but will not eliminate the effect of US tariffs on imports of popular consumer devices and their key components.