Donald Trump and White House officials walked back a Friday announcement that there would be tariff exemptions on imported electronics.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump directly denied the tariff exemption announcement.

“This is really mind-boggling. If this was serious industrial policy, the main thing you want is certainty: ‘Here’s the tariff, it will be in place for the indefinite future, and you should plan accordingly,’” Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank, said, according to The Washington Post. “Here, it’s basically: ‘Come back next week and see what we’ve got.’ That’s no way to run an economy.”

  • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    You know, this may really piss off some folks who got an early notification that there would be an exemption for electronics. You know, his insider trading buddies. It will be interesting to see who gets the angriest about this last minute change.

    On April 11, 2025, traders placed large, targeted call option bets on Apple. That evening, the Trump administration quietly exempted smartphones from tariffs, news not publicized until April 12. These trades weren’t speculation - they were placed before the memo was released.