Lutnick says tariff pause on phones, computers is temporary

Washington | Smartphones, computers and other electronic devices that won exemptions from some US tariffs will be part of a forthcoming levy on semiconductors, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said, dampening what China had called a "small step" toward easing the trade fight between the world's two biggest economies. Lutnick, speaking on Sunday on US network ABC's This Week, signalled that the late Friday reprieve - exempting a range of electronics from 125 per cent tariffs on China and a 10 per cent flat rate around the globe - was temporary. He reiterated US President Donald Trump's longstanding plan to…