Duties, latest news. Trump excludes smartphones from reciprocal duties, on 'cars, steel, pharma and chips there will be specific tariffs'

President Donald Trump's administration has decided to exclude smartphones, computers and other electronic devices from so-called 'reciprocal' tariffs, a move that could mitigate the impact on consumers and benefit industry giants such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

According to Bloomberg, the exemptions - published on Friday by the US Customs and Border Protection - significantly reduce the scope of the new tariffs. Excluded electronic devices will not be subject to either the 125% duty imposed on products from China or the global 10% tariff applied to almost all other countries.

The number of European travellers visiting the United States has dropped dramatically due to political and economic tensions and fears of a hostile border under the presidency of Donald Trump. The Financial Times reports. According to the International Trade Administration, in fact, visitors from Western Europe who stayed at least one night in the US fell by 17 per cent in March compared to a year ago. Travel from some countries, including Ireland, Norway and Germany, fell by more than 20 per cent, an FT analysis of ITA data showed.

The Federal Reserve is prepared to take steps to stabilise financial markets in the event of significant turbulence. Susan Collins, number one at the Boston Fed, said this in an interview with the Financial Times, explaining that the US central bank has tools at its disposal to deal with any problems in the functioning of markets or liquidity. Despite the intense fluctuations in US markets, triggered in part by US President Donald Trump's aggressive trade policy on tariffs, "markets continue to function well overall at the moment without widespread liquidity problems," Collins said. The turmoil hit Wall Street stocks and the Treasury market, central to the global financial system. Rising US Treasury yields have raised concerns about liquidity and, therefore, the ease with which traders can buy and sell without affecting prices. "We are absolutely ready to intervene if necessary. The Fed's decision to intervene or not will depend on the conditions observed in the markets," Collins said.

The Washington Post's indiscretion has been confirmed. Several senior US Democratic senators wrote a letter asking the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate whether Donald Trump violated securities laws and is guilty of insider trading and market manipulation while changing course on global tariffs.

"We urge the SEC to investigate whether the tariff announcements, which caused the markets to crash and the subsequent partial recovery, enriched insiders and friends of the administration at the expense of the American public, and whether insiders, including the president's family, were aware of the tariff suspension they abused to make stock trades prior to the president's announcement," reads the letter, an initiative spearheaded by Massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.

On Wednesday, Trump wrote on social media, "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!". The post was written at a time of high market volatility and falling US indices. A few hours after his speech, the US president suddenly announced a 90-day pause on many tariffs. The move sent the US S&P 500 up several percentage points within minutes. Wednesday marked the best day for the S&P 500 since the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.

Reciprocal US tariffs will cause 'severe discrimination for developing countries, particularly the least developed among them, and could also trigger a humanitarian crisis', denounced China's Minister for Trade, Wang Wentao, in a telephone conversation with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.