Trump’s ‘no country escapes’ warning causes anxiety

Although the U.S. suspended most tariffs and waived reciprocal tariffs on electronic goods, Trump threatened that countries would not be able to escape his tariffs.

US President Donald Trump said he would soon announce a semiconductor tax in the coming days – Photo: REUTERS

Trump’s warning comes as he promised to launch a national security investigation into the semiconductor industry.

More tariffs coming soon?

In a post on the social network Truth Social on April 13, US President Donald Trump made it clear that the pause does not mean tax exemption.

“No one will escape responsibility for the unfair trade balances and non-monetary tariff barriers that other countries have used against us. Especially not China…

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There were no ‘exceptions’ to the tariffs announced on Friday (April 11). These products are still subject to the current 20 percent ‘fentanyl tariff,’ and they are just moving to a different group of tariffs,” Trump wrote.

Over the weekend, the U.S. announced a reciprocal tariff exemption on smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products, of which China is the main supplier. This move made American technology companies such as Nvidia and Dell as well as Apple breathe a sigh of relief. It also raises hopes of cooling tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

China praises the US for exempting electronics taxes, the White House leaves open the possibility of still imposing tariffs on semiconductors

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However, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later explained that this was only a temporary tax deferral and that those items would be subject to a “semiconductor tax” that would likely be applied in “another month or two.”

On April 13, Trump also announced that he would conduct a review of semiconductors and the entire electronics supply chain in upcoming national security-related tariff investigations.

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Speaking to reporters afterwards, he said he would announce tariffs on imported semiconductors next week.

“We want to simplify this for many other companies, because we want to make chips, semiconductors and other things in our country,” Trump said.

When asked if he would continue to exempt items such as smartphones, he replied: “There must be a certain flexibility. No one should be so rigid.”

Dizziness

An electronics factory in Jiangsu, China – Photo: REUTERS

Trump’s tax policy has so far dizzy markets, businesses and experts.

“The confusion caused by this constant flow of news from the White House stunned the industry and investors, and created great uncertainty and chaos for companies trying to plan their supply chains, inventories, and demand,” he said. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote.

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Sven Henrich, founder and chief market strategist at NorthmanTrader, has criticized the Trump administration’s ever-changing tax policy. “I propose that the government find out who controls the message, whatever it is, because it changes every day. American businesses cannot plan or invest when policy is constantly reversed,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, billionaire Ray Dalio said on NBC that he is concerned about the US falling into a recession, or worse, due to tariffs. “Right now, we’re at a decision-making moment and we’re very close to a recession. And I’m worried about something worse than a recession if this is not handled well,” he said.

So far, the Trump administration has insisted that the tax policy will be effective and an agreement may be reached soon. White House trade adviser Peter Navarro recently said Washington had opened an invitation to China to negotiate. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said he hoped to reach an agreement with a number of countries.

“My goal is to reach meaningful agreements by 90 days and I think we will achieve that with a number of countries in the next few weeks,” Greer said.

“The new point here is that the classification of goods is clearly ‘semiconductor’. The list released on Friday evening is much broader than the so-called semiconductors,” Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, told Al Jazeera.

The list released by U.S. Customs includes 20 product categories, such as computers, laptops, disk drives, semiconductor devices, memory chips and flat panel displays.