Trump's "Nobody Getting Off Hook" Remark Sparks Fear Of More Tariffs

US President Donald Trump, on Sunday, doubled down on his hardline trade policies, saying that no country - especially China - would be getting "off the hook" when it comes to his sweeping tariffs, even though there's a 90-day pause on some of them. The statement came after a bruising week that shook investor faith in the world's reserve currency as Trump's tariff plans whipsawed global markets.

In a post on social media, the American leader pushed back against suggestions that Friday's pausing of "reciprocal" tariffs on several countries was letting them "off the hook" for levies on US imports.

"NOBODY is getting "off the hook" for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst! There was no Tariff "exception" announced on Friday," Trump wroteon his Social truth platform.

He further explained that "these products are subject to the existing 20 per cent Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff bucket."

"The Fake News knows this, but refuses to report it. We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONICS SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations," the President wrote, referring to media reports suggesting exemptions for electronics like smartphones and semiconductors.

The Trump administration has long accused Chinese corporations of knowingly supplying groups involved in the creation of the synthetic opioid, which sparked a drug crisis in the US. 

The President further reasserted his intention to bring manufacturing back to America. "What has been exposed is that we need to make products in the United States, and that we will not be held hostage by other Countries, especially hostile trading Nations like China, which will do everything within its power to disrespect the American People. We also cannot let them continue to abuse us on Trade, like they have for decades, THOSE DAYS ARE OVER," he wrote. 

Further elaborating on his MAGA (Make America Great Again) plans, the Republican billionaire said, "The Golden Age of America, which includes the upcoming Tax and Regulation Cuts, a substantial amount of which was just approved by the House and Senate, will mean more and better paying Jobs, making products in our Nation, and treating other Countries, in particular China, the same way they have treated us. The bottom line is that our Country will be bigger, better, and stronger than ever before."

The American leader's statement comes days after the United States published guidance, saying smartphones, computers and other electronics were exempted from the 'reciprocal tariffs'. 

More Taiffs Coming

Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that the Trump administration's move to exempt a range of electronic devices from tariffs was only a temporary reprieve, and announced that those items would be subject to "semiconductor tariffs" that will likely come in "a month or two."

"All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they're going to have a special focus type of tariff to make sure that those products get reshored. We need to have semiconductors, we need to have chips, and we need to have flat panels -- we need to have these things made in America. We can't be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us," Lutnick told "This Week".

"So what [President Donald Trump's] doing is he's saying they're exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they're included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two. So these are coming soon," he continued.
 

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