‘These are coming soon’: White House signals new semiconductor tariffs

Lutnick stressed that the exemption is not permanent.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday that the recent exemption of certain electronics from US tariffs is only a temporary move, with a new set of semiconductor-focused tariffs expected within the next couple of months.

Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Lutnick clarified that while devices such as smartphones, laptops, solar panels, and flat-panel TVs were excluded from the reciprocal tariffs imposed earlier this month, they will soon fall under a separate category of levies aimed specifically at semiconductor-related products.

“All those products are going to come under semiconductors,” Lutnick told host Jonathan Karl. “They’re going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored.”

The secretary emphasized the administration’s push to strengthen domestic manufacturing of key components like chips and flat-panel displays. “We need to have these things made in America. We can't be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us,” he said.

The clarification comes after a bulletin from U.S. Customs and Border Protection was released Friday night, listing a range of electronics — including semiconductor-based storage devices — as temporarily exempt from the broader tariff hikes announced since April 2. The exemptions meant these items would not be affected by the 10% global tariff rate or the steep duties on Chinese imports.

However, Lutnick stressed that the exemption is not permanent. “What [President Donald Trump] is doing 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.

The administration, he added, is developing a tariff framework intended to incentivize industries like semiconductors and pharmaceuticals to relocate production to the U.S. “We can’t be beholden and rely upon foreign countries for fundamental things that we need,” Lutnick said.

“This is not a permanent exemption,” he reiterated. “These are national security priorities, not items to be negotiated away.”