Smartphones and laptops are among items exempt from recent China tariffs, but Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says more focused tariffs are on their way

Analysts have worried that Apple might have to raise iPhone prices due to tariffs.

The Trump administration exempted smartphones and other consumer electronics products from recent tariffs late on Friday, but what seemed to be a big win for Apple Inc., Nvidia Corp. and others is now more uncertain, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that other tariffs are on their way.

While smartphones, laptops, integrated circuits, transistors, semiconductor storage devices and machines for making semiconductors are among the items exempt from hefty 145% “reciprocal” tariffs on China, Lutnick said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week” that President Donald Trump will instead take a more targeted approach to those industries as it looks to restore domestic chipmaking.

By exempting those items from the previously announced tariffs, the administration wanted to set forth that these technology products soon will be subject to their own semiconductor-focused tariffs, Lutnick said.

Trump added to the confusion Sunday, with a social-media post saying “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook.’” He added that “There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced Friday… they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.’”

“The mass confusion created by this constant news flow out of the White House is dizzying for the industry and investors and creating massive uncertainty and chaos for companies trying to plan their supply chain, inventory and demand,” Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives wrote on Sunday.

Still, he acknowledged that “we are in a much better spot than Friday and last week heading into this Sunday night.”

Shares of Apple and other technology companies had been weighed down by worries about Trump’s steep tariffs. In Apple’s case, given its heavy manufacturing footprint in China, investors have feared the company will eitherneed to raise prices on its productsor sacrifice margins by holding prices steady.

Apple shares had lost 11% between Trump’s tariff announcement on April 2 and Friday’s close. The company got a break from tariffs in Trump’s first administration.

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon, who covers Nvidia and other semiconductor companies, wrote Sunday that while it’s not clear what Trump’s ultimate plan is, “these exclusions might provide an opening” for negotiations.

“It seemed last week that Trump was looking for an excuse to engage with China; however his actions also left them with little room to maneuver,” he wrote. “Exempting these products (many of which are key imports from China) could perhaps be taken as an offering to start a more productive conversation. We shall see.”