China has described the United States decision to exempt certain consumer electronics from its tariffs as a minor but welcome step toward addressing what it calls unfair trade practices.
Beijing urged Washington to go further by removing all additional levies.
On April 11, the Trump administration announced that smartphones, computers, and other electronics would be excluded from its heightened tariffs—specifically the 125% duties on Chinese imports and the baseline 10% on goods from most other countries. While the exemption narrows the scope of the tariffs, China emphasized that more action is needed to fully correct the situation.
“This is a small step by the US toward correcting its wrongful action of unilateral ‘reciprocal tariffs’”, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement posted on its official WeChat account on Sunday.
The ministry went on to urge the US to “take a big stride in completely abolishing the wrongful action, and return to the correct path of resolving differences through equal dialogue based on mutual respect”.
Trump’s recent exemptions apply to nearly US$390 billion in U.S. imports, according to official 2024 trade statistics.
This includes over US$101 billion in imports from China, as reported by Gerard DiPippo, associate director of the Rand China Research Center.
