President Donald Trump pledged he will still apply tariffs to phones, computers and popular consumer electronics, downplaying a weekend exemption as a procedural step in his overall push to remake US trade.

The reprieve exempting popular electronics from the 125 per cent tariffs on China is part of the longstanding plan to apply a different, specific levy to the sector.

A long list of electronic products got a reprieve for now from at least some of the levies on China, which had been expected to take a toll on tech giants like Apple.