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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] The Trump administration’s decision to exclude smartphones from its list of reciprocal tariff items has offered relief to South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics. While the move is primarily seen as a protective measure for U.S.-based companies like Apple, which heavily depend on Chinese manufacturing, it has also benefited foreign manufacturers such as Samsung.
According to reports from Bloomberg and other international media on Sunday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on April 11 (local time) that smartphones, laptops, disk drives, memory cards, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment would be exempt from reciprocal tariffs. The reversal comes as major tech companies faced potential disruptions due to the tariff policy, prompting the U.S. government to ease its stance.
Samsung currently manufactures approximately 50% of its Galaxy smartphones in Vietnam, some of which are exported to the United States. The Trump administration had initially proposed a 46% reciprocal tariff rate on Vietnamese goods, with a 90-day grace period before implementation. If enacted, the policy would have posed a significant risk to Samsung’s smartphone business in the U.S.
While welcoming the exemption, Samsung expressed cautious optimism. A company representative stated, “It’s a relief for now, but we are closely monitoring the situation as international tariff policies are changing rapidly due to ongoing negotiations between countries.” The company also emphasized that since the policy has not yet been formally implemented, it is too early to make definitive projections.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
