French media: Why did Trump suddenly exempt high-tech products imported from China? On April 12, the United States suddenly announced an exemption of "reciprocal tariffs" on smartphones and computers. Considering that China is a major exporter of such products to the U.S., this means that high tariffs on Chinese smartphones and other technology products have been lifted. Some media interpret the actions of the Trump administration as a "retreat," at least a beginning of "softening" its stance on the trade war with Beijing. It's hard to say exactly why Trump did this. Was it due to immense pressure from American consumers and tech companies? In fact, since returning to the White House, Trump has been inconsistent on tariff issues, particularly evident in his approach to taxing Canada and Mexico. Trump's actions show a sense of confusion and inconsistency. Although large-scale reciprocal tariffs against various countries have been temporarily suspended, the damage to America's credibility is difficult to repair. While showing leniency on tariffs for other countries and increasing pressure on China, it is unclear what Trump ultimately aims to achieve. Amid the full-scale outbreak of the Sino-U.S. trade war, which shook global financial markets, on April 12, the Trump administration suddenly announced tax exemptions for products including smartphones, laptops, routers, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, memory, and integrated circuits. According to a notice from U.S. Customs late Friday night, these exemptions particularly apply to products exported from China, as smartphones and laptops are the first and second largest categories of products China exports to the U.S. 73% of U.S. smartphones and 78% of laptops are produced in China. This decision by the Trump administration at least temporarily relieved American consumers worried about price hikes for such products and also benefits major American tech giants like Apple, which produces smartphones and other iconic products in China, as well as Dell and Nvidia Group. Daniel Ives, a financial analyst at Wedbush Securities, summarized that this change is "certainly the best news for investors in the tech sector." He believes that without these exemptions, "the U.S. tech industry would regress by ten years, and the artificial intelligence revolution would significantly slow down." "Imposing tariffs at the front door while granting exemptions at the back door," to avoid being seen as impulsive or inconsistent, a White House spokesperson, Lettice, explained Saturday that "the president clearly stated that the U.S. cannot rely on China for the production of key technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops. Under the president's instructions, these companies are quickly relocating their manufacturing operations to the U.S. mainland," which aligns with Trump's idea of launching a trade war. However, moving production bases like Apple's is no easy task; even ignoring various complex technical factors, it will take several years at minimum and costs will skyrocket. At this point of confrontation, Trump said on Friday that he felt "optimistic" about reaching a trade agreement with China. It’s unclear what his reasoning is. The tone from Beijing seems completely different. Authorities stated that Trump's tariffs have "degenerated into a numbers game," and if the U.S. continues this numerical game, China will "pay no attention." Source: rfi [Image: //p3-sign.toutiaoimg.com/tos-cn-i-ezhpy3drpa/79bdf26e04b24427a267aa498dc47935~tplv-obj:502:279.image?_iz=97245&bid=15&from=post&gid=1829276646415555&lk3s=06827d14&x-expires=1752278400&x-signature=Ho6QFNBR2fcpaAn%2FePvtYKtDVwc%3D] Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829276646415555/ Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's views.