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UPDATE: April 12,Ava Fabian Archives 2025, 4:00 p.m.

Smartphones and laptops are officially off the hook — for now. According to Mashable's CJ Silva, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has exempted 20 products, including semiconductor and flat-panel display modules, from the newly imposed 125% China tariffs.

UPDATE: April 13, 2025, 4:00 p.m.

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Don’t get too comfortable. The tariff exemptions announced Friday are only temporary. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said Sunday that smartphones, semiconductors, and display modules will fall under new "semiconductors" tariffs rolling out in “a month or two.”

You can catch up on the original story below.

As the trade war between the United States and China heats up, laptop makers, including Dell, HP, and Lenovo, will reportedly stop importing new devices into the U.S. for "at least two weeks."

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The report comes from the Commercial Times, a Chinese-language newspaper in Taiwan. The pause by companies like Dell and Lenovo could affect all of the consumer electronics they sell in the United States, such as laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets. (Mashable reached out to Dell, HP, and Lenovo for comment; we'll update this story if we get a response.)

Lenovo laptops could be impacted by tariffs. Credit: Joe Maldonado/Mashable

As President Donald Trump and China engage in a tit-for-tat tariff escalation, electronics manufacturers have been scrambling to adapt to a chaotic market. Already, Nintendo delayed pre-orders on the Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. and Canada. Laptop maker Framework paused shipments. Brands like Anker and Asus are raising prices for U.S. customers, while some DTC companies have started adding "Trump Tariff Surcharges" to their customers' bills.

The pace of tariff news has been dizzying this week. In the latest developments, President Trump increased total tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 percent. And on Friday, China retaliated by increasing tariffs on U.S. goods to 125 percent (the tariffs imposed by China go into effect Saturday, per Bloomberg).

Manufacturers aren’t the only ones anticipating a bleak economic outlook. The combination of global tariffs (which remain in effect), a trade war with China, and general uncertainty have spooked consumers as well.

A new economic survey from the University of Michigan found that “Consumer sentiment fell for the fourth straight month, plunging 11% from March.” Notably, consumer confidence fell among Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike. 

Keep checking Mashable for our latest tariff news and explainers, from delayed Nintendo Switch 2 preorders to reports of iPhone 16 panic buying.

UPDATE: Apr. 12, 2025, 4:02 p.m. This article was updated to include new information about newly exempt tech products from tariffs recently announced by the Trump Administration.

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