The Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, said Sunday about the “this week” of ABC that the tariff exemptions of President Donald Trump about technological products such as telephones, computers and chips were temporary.
Karl: Let’s start with that news on Friday night that this exemption in electronics, smartphones, laptops and the like. What is thought? Why exemption?
Lutnick: Well, if you remember, in recent months, President Trump called pharmaceutical and semiconductor and cars products. They were called rates in the sector. And those are not available for negotiation. They will simply be part of making sure that we reapted the central elements of national security that must be made in this country. We need to do medicine in this country. We learned that Covid duration. We need to do it in this country. We need to do semiconductors. Because we do not have semiconductors here, remember, all: Virtualy All semiconductors are now made in Taiwan and are finished in China. It is important that we delay them.
And so, the president will come with his policies on semiconductors and pharmaceutical products. They will be overcome by reciprocal rates. And it was ensuring that everyone understood that all these products are outside the reciprocal tariffs and that they will have their own separate way of being anyone.
Karl: But, but, but, wait a minute, I am asking about the exemption, not about, I mean, the notice that came out on Friday night saying that electronics, a wide range of electronic products, including smartphones, including the exempt components of reciprocal rates. Why this movement?
Lutnick: Well, remember, these products will be part of the semiconductor sector rates that are arriving. Then, you will see this week that there will be a record in the Federal Registry. There will be a published notice. Those are different types of work.
So, let’s do that. We did that in cars. The president will do it for pharmaceutical products. I think he will do it by semiconductors. Therefore, all these products will be low semiconductors, and will have a special rate of rate to ensure that these products are reformulated.
We need to have semiconductors, we need to have french fries and need to have flat panels. We need to do these things in the United States. We can depend on Southeast Asia for all the things that operate for us.
So, what is DOE is that they are saying that they are exempt from reciprocal tariffs, but are included in semiconductor rates, which are probable one month or two. So, these will arrive soon. You shouldn’t think that this is really out of that. They really think about it as included in the semiconductor space. Like pharmaceutical products –
Karl: Well, then –
Lutnick: – They require special attention, and the president is in him.
Karl: Then, then you are saying that the big tariffs about things like smartphones and laptops, iPhones, all those iPhones built in China, that the tariffs are temporarily turned off, but will they come in another right? Or what are you saying?
Lutnick: Correct, that’s correct. That’s how it is. Semiconductors and pharmaceutical products will have a tariff model to encourage them to restart them, which are built in the United States. We need our medications, and need semiconductors and our electronics to build in the United States.
We can be horses and trust the foreign country for fundamental things we need. We can trust China for fundamental things we need.
Our medications and our semiconductors must be built in the United States. Donald Trump is in that. He is calling that.
Therefore, it must understand that the thesis is included in the semiconductor rates that are arriving and the pharmaceutical products are coming. Those two are left in the next month or two.
So, this is not like a type of permanent exemption. It simply clarifies that the thesis is not available to be negotiated by countries. These are things that are Qnational security, which we must make in the United States.
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