The Trump administration has previously cited 232 as a potential avenue for semiconductor tariffs. But the latest messaging twist could cause further whiplash for the tech sector, which had breathed a sigh of relief after the tech exemption was announced, hoping that semiconductors might remain somewhat unscathed from Trump’s trade war.

“This is really mind-boggling. If this was serious industrial policy, the main thing you want is certainty: ‘Here’s the tariff, it will be in place for the indefinite future, and you should plan accordingly,’” said Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank. “Here, it’s basically: ‘Come back next week and see what we’ve got.’ That’s no way to run an economy.”

Speaking on ABC News’s “This Week,” Lutnick stated that tariffs for electronics such as phones and laptops will also be paused only temporarily, then resume in the coming months as part of the semiconductor tariff review.

“They’re exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, but they’re included in the semiconductor tariffs, which are coming in probably a month or two,” Lutnick said.

The Trump administration will establish an industry-specific tariff model for goods such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals to encourage companies to re-shore manufacturing for these products in the United States, he explained.

President Donald Trump “called them sector tariffs, and those are not available for negotiation,” Lutnick said. “They are just going to be part of making sure we re-shore the core national security items that need to be made in this country.”

Lutnik also noted, “Virtually all semiconductors are made now in Taiwan, and they’re finished in China. It’s important that we re-shore them.”

Meanwhile, other officials pushed back on the idea that the White House has been inconsistent in its messaging around trade.

On CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer argued that the White House has to take a more deliberate approach to semiconductors than “reciprocal” tariffs — which are meant to only address trade deficits — because the administration’s goals cover the entire supply chain.

“We don’t even import semiconductors as such that much,” Greer said. “They go into downstream products. So we have to be very careful. We want the whole supply chain here, not just one product.”

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said the tariff investigation into semiconductors has to do with broader concerns about whether U.S. dependence on Chinese-made imports could become a problem in a war between the two nations.

“The influence of China into every little corner of our country has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger,” he said. “It actually is the case that there is a very uncomfortable amount of Chinese input in our actual weapons systems.”

But compared to typical Section 232 investigations into critical materials, the process on China is “very, very nascent, if at all,” Hassett said.

For the tech industry, Sunday’s clarification marked a return to the uncertainty that has roiled markets — just one day after it celebrated the White House announcement that the chip sector would be spared.

“The mass confusion created by this constant news flow out of the White House is dizzying for the industry and investors and creating massive uncertainty and chaos for companies trying to plan their supply chain, inventory, and demand,” Dan Ives, a senior analyst for Wedbush, wrote in a note to investors.