U.S. Delays Additional China Tariffs On Smartphones, Laptops And Monitors

The proposed 10 percent tariff on electronic devices will be delayed until at least Dec. 15, sparing Apple and other device makers from uncertainty in the near term.

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The U.S. will not impose an additional 10 percent tariff on products from China including smartphones, laptops and monitors in September, delaying the tariffs until at least Dec. 15, the U.S. government trade representative announced Tuesday.

Giants of the American tech industry—including Apple, Microsoft, Dell Technologies, Intel and HP Inc.—have chastised the proposal for additional tariffs on devices, saying the move would raise prices and divert resources from R&D.

[Related: Apple CEO: Mac, iPad Businesses Are ‘Very Strong,’ iPhone Sees ‘Significant Improvement’]

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The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said Tuesday that while new tariffs are taking effect for some products on Sept. 1, "certain products are being removed from the tariff list based on health, safety, national security and other factors and will not face additional tariffs of 10 percent."

Those products include "cell phones, laptop computers, video game consoles, certain toys, computer monitors, and certain items of footwear and clothing," the office said in a news release.

The tariff will now be delayed until Dec. 15, and "USTR intends to conduct an exclusion process for products subject to the additional tariff," the office said.

Apple’s stock price was up 3.66 percent, to $207.82 a share, as of late morning Tuesday. Final assembly of nearly all Apple products, including the iPhone, is carried out in China.

The tariffs delay removes "a major near-term dark cloud from over Cupertino," wrote Daniel Ives, managing director for equity research at Wedbush Securities, in a note to investors.

"For Apple, which has become the poster child of this US/China UFC trade battle, this is a major shot in the arm for the bulls as importantly Cook & Co. will be facing no tariff noise/costs when the trifecta of iPhones launch in the September time-frame," Ives wrote.

Meanwhile, shares in HP Inc. were up 2.65 percent to $19.44, while Microsoft's stock price was up 1.38 percent to $137.66 and Intel's stock price rose 2.46 percent to $46.72. Shares in Dell Technologies were up 0.57 percent to $49.79.