Trump administration says will exclude some electronics from reciprocal tariffs
Nashville, Apr 12 (AP): The Trump administration late Friday said they would exclude electronics like smartphones and laptops from reciprocal tariffs, a move that could help keep the prices down for popular consumer electronics that aren't usually made in the US.
It would also benefit big tech companies like Apple and Samsung and chip makers like Nvidia and sets the stage for a likely tech stock rally on Monday.
US Customs and Border Protection said items like smartphones, laptops, hard drives, flat-panel monitors and some chips would qualify for the exemption. Machines used to make semiconductors are excluded too. That means they won't be subject to the current 145 per cent tariffs levied on China or the 10 per cent baseline tariffs elsewhere.
It's the latest tariff change by the Trump administration, which has made several U-turns in their massive plan to put tariffs in place on goods from most countries.
The exemption seemed to reflect the president's realization that his China tariffs are unlikely to shift more manufacturing of smartphones, computers and other gadgets to the US any time soon, if ever, despite the administration's predictions that the trade war prod Apple to make iPhones in the US for the first time.
But that was an unlikely scenario after Apple spent decades building up a finely calibrated supply chain in China. What's more, It would take several years and cost billions of dollars to build new plants in the US, and then confront Apple with economic forces that could triple the price of an iPhone, threatening to torpedo sales of its marquee product.
Trump's decision to exempt the iPhone and other popular electronics made in China mirrors the similar relief that he gave those products during the trade war of his first term in the White House. But Trump began his second term seemingly determined to impose the tariffs more broad this time, triggering a meltdown in the market values of Apple and other technology powerhouses.
The turmoil battered the stocks of tech's “Magnificent Seven” -- Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla, Google parent Alphabet and Facebook parent Meta Platforms. At one point earlier this week, the combined Magnificent Seven's combined market value had plunged by USD 2.1 trillion, or 14 per cent, from April 2 when Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on a wide range of countries.
Some of the losses eased this past Wednesday when Trump paused the tariffs outside of China, paring the lost value in the Magnificent Seven to USD 644 billion, or a 4 per cent decline, from April 2. Now, the stage is set for another tech rally Monday when trading resumes in the US stock market, with Apple likely leading the way because the iPhones made in China remain the company's biggest money maker.
The electronics exemption also should relieve consumer worries that the China tariffs would result in hefty price hikes on smartphones and other devices that have become essential tools of modern living,
It's the kind of friendly treatment that industry was envisioning when Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos assembled behind the president during his January 20 inauguration.
That united display of fealty reflected Big Tech's hopes that Trump would be more accommodating than President Joe Biden's administration's and help propel an already booming industry to even greater heights.
Apple won praise from Trump in late February when the Cupertino, California, company committed to invest USD 500 billion and add 20,000 jobs in the US during the next four years. The pledge was an echo of a USD 350 billion investment commitment in the US that Apple made during Trump's first term when the iPhone was exempted from China tariffs.
The move takes off “a huge black cloud overhang for now over the tech sector and the pressure facing US Big Tech,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a research note.
Neither Apple nor Samsung responded to a request for comment Saturday. Nvidia declined to comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
MUDA case: Court raps Lokayukta over delay in submitting final report
Bengaluru (PTI): The Special Court for People's Representatives on Thursday expressed displeasure with the Lokayukta for failing to file the final investigation report in the MUDA land site allotment case, involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
Despite clear directions from the court to submit the final "B report" by December 18 in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case, the Lokayukta placed only an interim progress report.
Questioning the delay, the judge sought an explanation from Lokayukta officials, who stated that the final report could not be filed as prosecution sanction against certain officials was still awaited.
During the proceedings, the court asked the Special Public Prosecutor to produce the case diary. The prosecutor submitted that the report could be placed before the court in a sealed cover if additional time was granted.
This was strongly opposed by the complainant, activist Snehamayi Krishna, who alleged that there was an attempt to mislead the court.
ALSO READ: Three arrested for gangrape, blackmail of college student in Bengaluru
Krishna further contended that no meaningful investigation had been conducted and accused the authorities of shielding the accused. He also claimed that no witnesses had been examined, despite specific directions issued by the court.
Observing that it could not pass any order in the absence of a final investigation report, the court adjourned the matter.
The special court deferred its orders on the petitions challenging the Lokayukta's B report and the clean chit granted to CM Siddaramaiah and three others to December 23.
The Lokayukta Police in February had given a clean chit to Siddaramaiah, his wife B M Parvathi, and two other accused in connection with the case, stating that allegations against them have not been proven due to lack of evidence.
Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law B M Mallikarjun Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police on September 27, 2024.
In the site allotment case, it is alleged that 14 compensatory sites were allotted to Siddaramaiah's wife in an upmarket area in Mysuru (Vijayanagar Layout 3rd and 4th stages), which had higher property value as compared to the location of her land which had been "acquired" by MUDA.
The MUDA had allotted plots to Parvathi under a 50:50 ratio scheme in lieu of 3.16 acres of her land, where it developed a residential layout.
Under the controversial scheme, MUDA allotted 50 per cent of developed land to the land losers in lieu of undeveloped land acquired from them for forming residential layouts.
It was also alleged that Parvathi had no legal title over the 3.16 acres of land at survey number 464 of Kasare village, Kasaba hobli of Mysuru taluk.
