Trump placing 10% tariffs on an additional ~$200B in Chinese imports on Sept. 24, drops ~300 types of goods, including smartwatches, from list of those affected
President Trump, emboldened by America's economic strength and China's economic slowdown, escalated his trade war on Monday …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the third escalation of the trade war Trump opened in March 2018 with a planned ~$60B round of Chinese tariffs aimed mostly at tech, followed within weeks by ~$50B targeting Chinese electronics, aerospace, and machinery. The September move scales the conflict from targeted product lists to a ~$200B tranche.
The notable detail is what came off the list: roughly 300 goods, including smartwatches, won a reprieve. That carve-out proved temporary — a year later the US began imposing 15% tariffs on products like the Apple Watch, with laptops and cellphones slated for December.
First-order effects
- Importers and retailers of the remaining ~$200B in Chinese goods absorb a 10% cost increase effective Sept. 24, while smartwatch makers like Apple gain a short-term pricing reprieve on devices assembled in China.
Second-order effects
- Consumer-electronics brands facing the eventual extension of tariffs to wearables, laptops, and phones must weigh price increases against supply-chain shifts out of China, since the 2018 carve-out did not hold through the following year's 15% round.
Third-order effects
- The pattern established here — broad lists with politically sensitive carve-outs, then re-inclusion — becomes the template for successive administrations, culminating in the 2025 escalation where Trump threatened an additional 50% on China and the White House moved to tax sub-$800 imports at 90% of value to target Chinese retailers directly.
The trend: US-China tariff policy is ratcheting from targeted tech product lists toward near-universal levies, with consumer devices repeatedly carved out under pressure only to be swept back in as the conflict escalates.