On Friday, the administration carved out an exception for a variety of electronics from the steep taxes now applied to Chinese imports.

"This is not a permanent sort of exemption," Commrece Secretary Howard Lutnick said of Trump's tariff carve-outs for tech products.

Chinese officials are calling on President Donald Trump to "completely cancel" his reciprocal tariffs, as a trade war between world's two biggest economies grinds on. This week, Trump announced a 90-day pause for a host of global tariffs he had planned, but increased such taxes on Chinese imports to 145%.

While President Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%.

China hits back at Trump. April 11, 2025. Beijing increased its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125% on Friday (April

Smartphones, laptop computers, memory chips and other electronics will be exempt from President Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, another step back that could ease some consumer concerns about an immediate jump in costs for tech products imported from China.

Experts called Trump's raft of tariffs "worse than the worst-case scenario." There's been a pause, and exemptions -- with things moving fast, here's what to know.