Device manufacturers breathe easier as US delays tariff hike on China imports

US president made decision to lighten impact on US consumers during Christmas shopping period

US president Donald Trump has delayed the imposition of 10 per cent tariffs on certain Chinese goods, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, until 15 December.

Earlier this month, Trump escalated the trade war between the two nations when he tweeted that the US would place a ten per cent tariff on a further $300bn of Chinese-made products, which would come into effect on 1 September.

He insinuated that the decision came about due to China reneging on the promise it had previously made to buy more US agricultural produce, though a recent tweet suggests he expects this round of tariffs to change that.

However, he has now stated certain products would not be taxed until December to avoid any impact on US consumers during the Christmas shopping rush.

The devices on this list include smartphones, including Apple's iPhones, laptops, tablets, external computer monitors, keyboards, wired headphones and games consoles controllers.

Clothing, footwear and toys are also subjected to the delayed tariff imposition.

Around $110bn of Chinese-manufactured goods will be slapped with tax from September, including wearables, such as Apple' AirPods, Mac computers and Apple Watch, networking gear, semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries and parts of telephone sets.

The US Trade Representative (USTR) added that certain imports would not be subject to the tax for "health, safety, national security and other factors".

Trump's previous tariff hikes have caused HP and Dell to move up to 30 per cent of their production out of China, as well as causing other vendors to implement plans to mitigate the risks of higher-tariffed imports.

HP, Dell, Microsoft and Intel also wrote an open letter in June to the USTR pleading against the proposal to include electronic devices on the tariff hit-list.