No one is “getting off the hook”, Trump after US appeared to dial down on China

Washington DC [US], April 14 (ANI): US President Donald Trump has said that no one is “getting off the hook” on trade after his administration appeared to dial down pressure on China by issuing a notice exempting certain high-tech products from his “reciprocal” tariffs, Al Jazeera reported.

Trump on Sunday said that there were no exceptions to the tariffs, as smartphones, laptops and other products were still subject to an existing 20 per cent duty and the items were being moved to a different tariff “bucket”, as per Al Jazeera.

“We will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One later on Sunday, Trump said he would announce new tariffs on semiconductors over the next week.

“The tariffs will be in place in the not distant future,” Trump said, adding that there would be flexibility for some companies in the sector.

US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said earlier that the reprieve for high-tech products, many of which are manufactured in China, would be temporary and that semiconductor tariffs would be in place within weeks.

“So what [Trump is] doing is he’s saying they’re [high-tech products] exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. So these are coming soon,” Al Jazeera quoted Lutnick as speaking to local media.

Earlier in the day, China called on the United States to correct its mistakes by “completely cancelling” its tariffs, describing them as “wrong practice” and urging Washington to return to a “path of mutual respect” towards Beijing, France 24 reported.

This appeal comes amid escalating trade tensions between the two nations, when US president Donald Trump announced a 90-day delay on tariffs for most countries, including the European Union, China was notably excluded from this reprieve.

This move has further heightened tensions between the world’s two largest economies, as per France 24.

“We urge the US to take a big step to correct its mistakes, completely cancel the wrong practice of ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and return to the right path of mutual respect,” a commerce ministry spokesperson said.