Trump will explain tariffs on electronics on Monday

The administration announced late Friday that some electronics were exempt.

Last Updated: April 13, 2025, 11:43 PM EDT

President Donald Trump on Sunday said there will be no exceptions for tariffs on electronics and that he would clarify his administration's policy on Monday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced late Friday that some smartphones, computers, chips and other electronics would be exempted from tariffs, but Trump's top economic advisers hit the Sunday talk shows to explain the policy, saying that tariffs against electronics would be coming in the next month or two.

“There was no Tariff ‘exemption’ announced on Friday," Trump posted Sunday afternoon, and that semiconductor tariffs will “just be moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 07, 2025, 6:35 PM EDT

'Almost 70 countries' have approached US on tariffs: Treasury secretary

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox Business there have been "50, 60, maybe almost 70, countries now who have approached" the U.S. about the tariffs.

"As I advised on many shows on April 2, I suggested that the foreign officials keep your cool," he said. "Do not escalate and come to us with your offers on how you're going to drop tariffs, how you're going to drop non-tariff barriers, how you're going to stop your currency manipulation, how you're going to stop the subsidized financing. And at a point President Trump will be ready to negotiate."

Bessent weighed in on talks with Japan, saying that after the president's call with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier Monday, Trump asked Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to take the lead on negotiations.

"Japan is a very important military ally. They're a very important economic ally, and the U.S. has a lot of history with them. So I would expect that Japan is going to get priority just because they came forward very quickly," Bessent said. "But it's going to be very busy, and President Trump, again, gave himself maximum negotiating leverage, and just when he achieved the maximum leverage, he's willing to start talking."

Pressed on if he believed a deal could be struck with Japan in the next week or two to help the markets, Bessent didn't answer directly, only suggesting that "negotiations are going to be tough."

-ABC News' Molly Nagle

Apr 07, 2025, 5:37 PM EDT

Dow posts largest point swing ever

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a third day following the tariff rollout and Trump's threat to raise tariff rates on China.

The Dow posted its largest intraday point swing ever -- falling more than 1,700 points during its Monday session low, then swinging up 2,595 points from low. The Dow dropped 349.26 points, or 0.91%, to close at 37,965.60.

For the S&P 500 Index, Monday's 8.5% high/low spread has only happened 20 other times since 1962, according to S&P Global. The S&P 500 briefly entered bear market territory during the session but was last off nearly 18% from its recent high. It shed 0.23% to end at 5,062.25.

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City, April 7, 2025.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters

-ABC News' Victor Ordonez

Apr 07, 2025, 5:21 PM EDT

Jeffries asks if Trump and GOP are ‘intentionally tanking the economy’

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stressed Democrats will continue to “push back” in a bipartisan way to fight Trump's tariffs.

“The Constitution is very clear that tariffs and tax policy, the ability to raise revenue, that authority is vested in the Congress for a reason,” Jeffries said. “The Congress is most closely associated, particularly the House, with the American people.”

Jeffries said Congress has to start acting like a separate and co-equal branch of government. He decried Republicans for conceding to Trump and said the cost of living in America has gotten “too expensive” under the Trump administration.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a news conference at the Capitol, April 7, 2025, in Washington.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

“What we have witnessed under complete Republican control of government is a willingness to simply bend the knee to Donald Trump, no matter how much pain he is inflicting on the American people or how much damage Trump is doing to the American way of life,” he said.

Jeffries also slammed the president for harming American families and causing an “economic disaster.”

“This is a reckless economic sledgehammer that Donald Trump and compliant Republicans in the Congress are taking to the economy, and the American people are being hurt. Enough.”

Ahead of United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s appearance on Capitol Hill, the leader said he hopes Greer can confirm if the president’s tariffs are an intentional scheme to enrich the wealthy.

“The Trump tariffs, which are a tax on the American people, are so reckless, so unstrategic, so lacking in any sophistication, that the only conclusion that one can draw is that Donald Trump and Republicans are intentionally tanking the economy,” he said. “Is it because, as Donald Trump has indicated, that during tough economic times, the rich get richer, and it's a buying opportunity?” he asked.

-ABC News’ Arthur Jones II

Apr 07, 2025, 5:18 PM EDT

Thune downplays future of bill that would rein in Trump on tariffs

Senate Majority Leader John Thune signaled that it’s unlikely he’ll bring up the Grassley-Cantwell tariff bill for a vote in the Senate following Trump's veto threat earlier Monday.

"I don't think that has a future,” he said of the bill. “The president has indicated he would veto it. I don't see how they would get it on the floor in the House, so at this point we are kind of just waiting to see what happens next.

Thune said he hasn't yet had many conversations with his conference about the legislation. So far, seven Republicans are backing the bill, but that would not be enough to pass it and is far short of a veto-proof majority.

"My assumption is that it will probably be a subject of conversation at some point. But at this point right now, I think most people like here, like most Americans, are watching and waiting to see what the ultimate policy implementation will be with respect to the tariffs," he said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican from South Dakota, speaks to the press after the Republican weekly policy meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Mar. 4, 2025.
Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images

Thune said that while he recognizes concerns about the market, he wants to let the current tariff policy play out.

"Everybody's concerned about the market, for sure, and people, a lot of Americans, obviously, have retirement plans, mutual funds, 401(k)s, IRAs that are invested in the market," Thune said. "I expected there was going to be some turbulence in the stock market, I think everybody did. This was a change in policy, a consequential one, but I think we've got to let it play out and see what ultimately happens, not only in the near term but in the long term. And I think the administration, my expectation will be, that they'll, as they examine it, make some decision too about how to implement that policy in the long term."

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

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