Washington | Smartphones, computers and other electronic devices that won exemptions from some US tariffs will be part of a forthcoming levy on semiconductors, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, dampening what China had called a “small step” toward easing the trade fight between the world’s two biggest economies.

Lutnick, speaking on Sunday (Monday AEST) on US network ABC’s This Week, signalled that the late Friday reprieve – exempting a range of electronics from 125 per cent tariffs on China and a 10 per cent flat rate around the globe – was temporary. He reiterated US President Donald Trump’s longstanding plan to apply a different, specific levy to the sector.

Bloomberg