Virtual Asset Market Turns Bearish Following U.S. Commerce Secretary's 'Electronics Tariff' Remarks

Uk Jin

Summary

The virtual asset market has turned bearish following U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's remarks on electronics tariffs.
Major virtual assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum have fallen by 2.10% and 3.28%, respectively.
Analysts suggest that the possibility of electronics tariffs has impacted the decline in virtual asset prices.

Howard Lutnick, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, announced that separate tariffs will be imposed on certain electronic products such as smartphones and computers, which were previously exempted from mutual tariffs. As a result, the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market has turned bearish.

As of 07:04 AM (KST) on the 14th, the leading virtual asset Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $83,667 on CoinMarketCap, down 2.10% from the previous day. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) have fallen by 3.28% and 2.34%, respectively, while major altcoins like Binance Coin (BNB) and Solana (SOL) are also mostly showing weakness.

Analysts suggest that the bearish trend in the virtual asset market was triggered by Secretary Lutnick's remarks that electronic products could be included in the semiconductor item tariffs.

On the 13th (local time), Secretary Lutnick stated in an interview with ABC News, "President Donald Trump has indicated that pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and automobiles are subject to item tariffs and are not negotiable," adding, "The semiconductor tariffs will be announced within a month, and pharmaceutical tariffs within one to two months."

This implies that electronic products utilizing semiconductors in their production could be subject to semiconductor item tariffs.

When the interviewer asked Secretary Lutnick again, "Are you saying that laptop computers and smartphones will be temporarily exempt but will be re-imposed in a different form in about a month?" he confirmed, "Correct. A tariff model will be applied to encourage domestic production of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals."

Previously, the risk asset market, including the virtual asset market, had rebounded on news that smartphones, laptop computers, hard disk drives, computer processors, memory chips, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment were included in the U.S. tariff exemption list. However, the possibility of separate tariffs on these products has led to a bearish turn.