Donald Trump signalled that smartphones and other consumer electronics imported to the US from China would face tariffs, dealing a blow to hopes of a reprieve for Big Tech companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft.

“NOBODY is getting “off the hook” for the unfair Trade Balances, and Non Monetary Tariff Barriers, that other Countries have used against us, especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!” the US president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

His administration on Friday excluded phones, chipmaking equipment and certain computers from steep “reciprocal” tariffs in what was seen as a significant boost for technology groups, whose stocks plunged after Trump unleashed a global trade war this month on what he called “liberation day”.

But on Sunday, US officials played down the exemptions, warning that such products would be re-examined as part of a government probe into semiconductors, which face a separate round of tariffs.