this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2025
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Smartphones, computers, flash drives, semiconductors and solar cells will be exempt from the Trump administration’s wide-ranging tariffs on China and other nations, according to guidance from U.S Customs and Border Protection released late Friday night.

The policy is a boon to U.S. tech companies such as Apple, which produces most of iPhones in China.

Tech companies, and the net worth of their billionaire CEOs, were among those hardest hit when markets tanked on the tariff announcement. But, now Trump appears to be offering a helping hand by exempting some products from the 125 percent tariff he left on China.

A handful of tech stocks such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Netflix, Amazon, Meta and Google parent Alphabet make up over a quarter of the value of the S&P 500 at any given time — and all of these companies would face major financial challenges if global electronics supplies were hit with sustained tariffs.

The Friday announcement is the latest sudden adjustment in a tariff policy that’s changed every few days, after Trump announced on Wednesday a 90-day pause on a series of “reciprocal” tariffs on U.S. trading partners that rattled financial markets, while increasing tariffs on China to an effective rate of 145 percent and maintaining a baseline 10 percent tariffs on all countries that hadn’t retaliated against the U.S.

Despite attempting to soften the financial blow of the tariff agenda, some fear the policies have set the U.S. on a course for a recession.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Trump now has a "make stock go up/down" button he can push whenever he wants to, for any section of the market.
Simply post "Tariffs now 100% on X" or "Tariffs paused".

[–] [email protected] 5 points 23 hours ago

They're now saying these electronics will be tariffed separately lol. They're just doing blatant insider trading

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Folded fast

[–] [email protected] 50 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

It's becoming more and more clear that all these conflicting announcements are to allow Trump and his cronies to profit off insider trading. Kind of insane how blatant it is, short the market, announce tariffs, sell the short, pause the tariffs (except for China), buy tech stock, announce tech will be exempt, they gotta be making crazy bank.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 days ago

i think its that, and its also feeling for what they can get away with.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

That's the fun part, people might think the big bougies will choose democrats with their backtobrunchism continuation of imperialism, but the line not only needs to go up but accelerate, and it's been 5 years from last biggest transfer of wealth up in history, so they are restless again and perfectly willing to tear the copper from walls.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

I agree with the way you think brother

[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 days ago (2 children)

this renders trump's tariffs almost completely moot.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago

Except the part where the average consumer gets to pay more for everything. That still applies.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 2 days ago (3 children)

It doesn't for local businesses, so effectively he created these tariffs for nothing, the original purpose is now unable to be realised and the aftereffects will lead to bankruptcy of smaller businesses and companies will prefer to open factories literally everywhere else

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Enabling the Capitalist tendency for monopolization is not "for nothing", it's a necessity of the system.

As those smaller businesses go out of business, their leaders will either be scooped up under the lead of larger business, or they will be forced to return to the mass labour workforce, either way their market now belongs to the higher up capitalists and their new role is ensuring profits for those bosses.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Trump achieved a short term goal with the insider trading tactic. Let's see if he does it again.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah this is the headline to be honest. I kinda assumed he was too thick so maybe it was somebody else’s idea but whatever. Looks like that was the play afaict

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Yeah. I backed a board game recently on Kickstarter poor guy shared in a new update he got hit with a 60k charge bringing over stock for a previous release. Like shit man that’s awful for a small business.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 days ago

Trump saw that Switch 2 price and knew he could not afford it.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 2 days ago

I'm sure all the "now we are gonna manufacture iPhones in the US!" conservatives will raise their displeasure with this any day now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What did china exempt after Trump exempted Phones, Electronics and Computers

[–] [email protected] 2 points 23 hours ago

Nothing. They commented that it's a small step to correct a huge mistake tho. They really got the knack of how to fake-compliment idiots in a patronizing way lol

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I don't think that China need anything from the US, but the US need almost everything from China and the rest of the world. All their tech depends on chips and raw materials from the Asiatic market

[–] [email protected] 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I don’t think that China need anything from the US

They do like their money. The US basically funded their industrialisation, and keeps doing so.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

They funded it, but currently China don't really US support anymore, their tecnology is even superior as the US one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Does that include 3d printers? jfc

... does the research no

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago