Trump will explain tariffs on electronics on Monday

The administration announced late Friday that some electronics were exempt.

ByDavid Brennan, Alexandra Hutzler, and Ivan Pereira
Last Updated: April 13, 2025, 11:43 PM EDT

President Donald Trump on Sunday said there will be no exceptions for tariffs on electronics and that he would clarify his administration's policy on Monday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced late Friday that some smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics would be exempted from tariffs, but Trump's top economic advisers hit the Sunday talk shows to explain the policy, saying that tariffs against electronics would be coming in the next month or two.

“There was no Tariff ‘exemption’ announced on Friday," Trump posted Sunday afternoon, and that semiconductor tariffs will “just be moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 09, 2025, 9:21 AM EDT

Sec. Bessent says China's 84% tariff escalation 'is a loser for them'

Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent is responding to China's increased 84% tariff on U.S. goods, saying it's "unfortunate that the Chinese actually don't want to come and negotiate."

"They are the worst offenders in the international trading system," he said during an interview on Fox Business. "This escalation is a loser for them."

Asked if the U.S. will be impacted negatively first, Bessent said, "no one wins in a war, but its proportionality, and the proportionality for the Chinese is going to be much worse."

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at American Bankers Association's summit in Washington, April 9, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Bessent also told Fox that a meeting with Vietnam officials is happening on Wednesday and a delegation from Japan will be "coming soon."

-ABC News' Justin Gomez and Michelle Stoddart

Apr 09, 2025, 9:19 AM EDT

Trump says it a 'GREAT time' for businesses to move to US after tariffs take effect

In President Donald Trump's first posts on his conservative social media platform since the 104% tariffs on Chinese imports went into effect, Trump didn't mention those new duties explicitly, only saying that companies should manufacture in America.

"This is a GREAT time to move your COMPANY into the United States of America, like Apple, and so many others, in record numbers, are doing," Trump wrote in a post.

He encouraged companies by saying they'd pay "ZERO TARIFFS." He added, "DON'T WAIT, DO IT NOW!"

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Apr 09, 2025, 8:33 AM EDT

Billionaire Bill Ackman, a Trump supporter, calls for 90-day tariff pause

Billionaire Trump supporter Bill Ackman is calling for a 90-day pause so the president can "accomplish his objectives without destroying small businesses in the short term."

In a lengthy post on X, Ackman warns that if Trump "doesn't pause the effect of the tariffs soon, many small businesses will go bankrupt."

"Medium-sized businesses will be next," Ackman added.

Bill Ackman speaks at the Wall Street Journal Digital Conference in Laguna Beach, California, October 17, 2017.
Mike Blake/Reuters

Apr 09, 2025, 7:19 AM EDT

China to increase tariffs on US goods to 84%

China on Wednesday said it would increase its reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods to 84% from the previous 34%, per a statement from the country's Finance Ministry.

The ministry's statement said escalating U.S. tariffs were a "mistake," adding: "China urges the U.S. to immediately correct its wrong practices, cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China and properly resolve differences with China through equal dialogue on the basis of mutual respect."

Pistachios imported from the U.S. are seen at a supermarket in Beijing, China, on April 9, 2025.
Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images

The measure came after President Donald Trump's additional tariffs on Chinese goods came into force just after midnight, bringing the total rate of tariffs on Chinese goods to 104%.

-ABC News' Karson Yiu

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