Trump will explain tariffs on electronics on Monday

The administration announced late Friday that some electronics were exempt.

Last Updated: April 13, 2025, 11:43 PM EDT

President Donald Trump on Sunday said there will be no exceptions for tariffs on electronics and that he would clarify his administration's policy on Monday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced late Friday that some smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics would be exempted from tariffs, but Trump's top economic advisers hit the Sunday talk shows to explain the policy, saying that tariffs against electronics would be coming in the next month or two.

“There was no Tariff ‘exemption’ announced on Friday," Trump posted Sunday afternoon, and that semiconductor tariffs will “just be moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 07, 2025, 3:31 PM EDT

Trump says he is 'not looking at' a pause on tariffs as countries seek to negotiate deals

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump on Monday: "Would you be open to a pause in tariffs to allow for negotiation?"

"Well, we're not looking at that," he responded. "We have many, many, countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and they're going to be fair deals. And and in certain cases, they're going to be be paying substantial tariffs. There will be fair deals."

Apr 07, 2025, 3:30 PM EDT

Netanyahu says he'll eliminate trade deficit with US: 'Israel can serve as a model'

President Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed trade and tariffs in their Oval Office meeting on Monday.

"I can tell you that I said to the president a very simple thing. We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly," Netanyahu told reporters. "We think it's the right thing to do, and we're going to also eliminate, trade barriers, variety of trade barriers that have been put up unnecessarily."

"And I think Israel can serve as a model for many countries who ought to do the same," he said.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 7, 2025.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Apr 07, 2025, 3:12 PM EDT

Navarro says tariffs 'not a negotiation' while top Trump officials instructed to begin talks

As Trump has directed his top Cabinet officials to begin tariff negotiations with Japanese officials, another top Trump adviser has published an op-ed in the Financial Times saying that tariffs are "not a negotiation."

Trump's senior counselor for trade Peter Navarro wrote the op-ed and proclaimed that this is a national emergency, not a negotiation.

"President Trump is always willing to listen. But to those world leaders who, after decades of cheating, are suddenly offering to lower tariffs -- know this: that’s just the beginning," Navarro wrote in the op-ed.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday President Trump tasked him and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to "open negotiations to implement the President’s vision for the new Golden Age of Global Trade" with Japanese officials after Trump held a call with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Apr 07, 2025, 2:44 PM EDT

Speaker Johnson tells ABC: 'Give the president space' on tariffs

In the middle of a stock market selloff, Speaker Mike Johnson said Americans need to "give the president space" on tariffs and that Trump's strategy is "playing out."

"Do you still trust the president on tariffs? Trillions of dollars in the market have been lost," asked ABC News Correspondent Jay O'Brien.

"We have to give the president space. His strategy is playing out. It's been less than a week, so I think he's owed that," Johnson responded.

Asked if he would support legislation from Republican Rep. Don Bacon to rein in Trump's tariff authority, Johnson said Congress would "weigh in on that," but in tandem with the White House.

"You got to give the president the latitude, the runway, to do what it is he was elected to do, and that is get this economy going again and get our trade properly balanced with other countries. So I think most the American people understand the necessity of that," he said.

-ABC News' John Parkinson, Lauren Peller and Arthur Jones II

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