What Chinese products will avoid extra American tariffs – for now?
- The US has pushed back imposition of additional duties on various goods until December to avoid a hit over the Christmas shopping season
The United States said on Tuesday that it would delay imposing new tariffs on US$156 billion goods – mostly consumer products – from China to avoid hitting businesses and consumers ahead of the year-end shopping season.
US President Donald Trump had threatened to put an extra 10 per cent tariff on US$300 billion of Chinese goods from September 1 but now about half of those tariffs will not take effect until December 15.
“We’re doing this for [the] Christmas season, just in case some of the tariffs would have an impact on US customers,” Trump said on Tuesday.
Some of the more popular Chinese goods affected by the suspension include:
Cellphones
The US imported US$45.8 billion of cellphones from China last year, including iPhones and many other smartphones assembled by manufacturers like Foxconn. The tariff reprieve for this category means customers planning to buy from Apple’s next range of iPhones – which the company usually launches in September – might not have to pay a higher price.
