Trump delays imposing tariffs on some Chinese goods during holiday season

The Trump administration will delay proposed tariffs on many consumer electronics goods a move that will help sales of Chinese manufacturers of such goods during the holiday shopping season.

Administration is moving ahead with Sept. 1 tariff plans

In a statement, the Office of the US Trade Representative said that it was going ahead with plans to levy a ten percent tariff on $300 billion of Chinese goods. Trump had said this month, after negotiations with China had stalled, that he would impose the new tariffs as of September 1. The office said the timeline was still in place.

The Trump administration had already levied a 25 percent tariff on a smaller number of goods. The links to the list for September 1 and a further list for December 15 can be found here.

Some products removed from ban others exempt until December 15th

A recent article notes: "The administration said 'certain products' would be removed from the new list of tariffs 'based on health, safety, national security and other factors.' The statement also said the administration will halt tariffs until December 15th for certain other goods. 'Products in this group include, for example, cell phones, laptop computers, video game consoles, certain toys, computer monitors, and certain items of footwear and clothing,' the statement read."

Manufacturers will get some relief

The changes to the ban will give some relief, even if only temporary, to manufacturers such as Apple. Apple had complained that the cost of tariffs would be passed on to consumers. Apple had asked for exemption for parts of the Mac Pro.

An article in late July notes: "President Trump said in a tweet this morning that his administration will not allow Apple to avoid tariffs on Mac Pro parts, after the company requested exemptions earlier this month.As part of an ongoing trade battle with China, the Trump administration has proposed stiff tariffs on imports from China. The list of proposed goods includes electronics, potentially hitting Apple with tariff increases as high as 25 percent."

Back in November last year, Trump had said that the ten percent tariff was not onerous on the consumer: "President Trump has told The Wall Street Journal he expects tariffs to be placed on all Chinese imports, including items like iPhones. This could boost the cost of an iPhone by 10 percent, a hike which Trump believes would not be a problem. 'People could stand that very easily,' Trump told the Journal."

Previously published in Digital Journal