US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick added to the uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariff plans on Sunday, making it clear that the recent break for tech companies is only temporary.

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Speaking on ABC’s This Week, Lutnick said that electronics like smartphones and laptops, recently exempted from the administration’s reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports, will soon fall under a new round of levies, this time called "semiconductor tariffs."

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“All those products are going to come under semiconductors,” Lutnick said, adding they will face “a special focus type of tariff” aimed at reshoring production. “We need to have semiconductors, we need to have chips, and we need to have flat panels… We can’t be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us,” he added.

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According to Lutnick, these new tariffs could be implemented “probably a month or two” from now. While tech companies were given a short-term break, the Commerce Secretary stressed that it’s not a permanent deal.

On Friday night, US Customs and Border Protection issued a notice that several high-demand electronics, smartphones, computers, solar cells, flat-panel displays and semiconductor-based storage devices would not be subject to either the steep reciprocal tariffs on Chinese goods or the 10% baseline tariffs applied more broadly.

But on Sunday, Lutnick made clear that this was only a pause. He said the White House wants to use tariffs as a way to drive the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries back to the US.

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“We can’t be beholden and rely upon foreign countries for fundamental things that we need,” he said. “So this is not like a permanent sort of exemption… These are things that are national security that we need to be made in America.”

Lutnick declined to defend VP Vance’s “peasants” remark

The interview also touched on recent controversial comments from Vice President JD Vance, who last week referred to Chinese workers as “peasants” during a Fox & Friends appearance.

“We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture,” Vance said. His comment drew criticism from Chinese officials, who labelled the statement “ignorant and impolite.”

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When asked about the remark, Lutnick declined to defend or clarify Vance’s words.

“No, I’m just going to step back and really just leave the vice president to let him defend himself,” he told host Jonathan Karl. “He knows what he meant," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)