THE Trump administration is sparing some Chinese-made household furniture, baby items and Internet modems and routers from its next rounds of 10 percent tariffs, it said Friday.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office released a complete list of the items that were removed from US$300 billion in tariffs scheduled to go into effect Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, some of which had already been hit with 25 percent tariffs.

Trump last week delayed more than half of the proposed tariffs until December, saying it would help shield businesses and consumers from the trade war fallout during the Christmas selling season.

The new list of 44 categories of spared imports, worth about US$7.8 billion according to U.S. Census Bureau data, also includes some chemical compounds used in the manufacture of plastics. Previous media reports said that bibles and religious texts would be spared from the tariff list.

Modems and routers made in China were part of a US$200 billion list of products hit with tariffs last September that have since been raised to 25 percent. Friday’s exclusion would avoid a further 10 percent hike as Trump imposes tariffs Sept. 1 to products in the same broad customs category, including smart watches, smart speakers and Bluetooth headphones.

The bulk of the items removed from the tariff list were furniture products, including wooden and metal-framed chairs and those made of plastics. Some of these were previously hit with tariffs as part of broader furniture categories.

Baby-related furniture items also were spared, including toddler beds, bassinets, cradles, strollers and children’s seats.

(SD-Agencies)