President Donald Trump has announced his intention to impose new tariffs on imports of chips and semiconductors. He said a decision will be made within the next two weeks, after the completion of an investigation that involves restricting imports of goods that pose a threat to US national security. Bloomberg reports.
Trump said the chip tariff could be 200% or even 300%. The president also mentioned possible exemptions from tariffs for companies that move chip production to the US. In particular, he hinted that Apple could receive such an exemption because the company has announced $600 billion in investments in American manufacturing.
There has been no official confirmation of the details of the tariff exemptions. Trump has previously promised to impose a 100% tariff on semiconductors, but no concrete decisions have been made yet. The chip and pharmaceutical sectors have been under investigation by the US Department of Commerce since April, which is a prerequisite for imposing tariffs on national security grounds.
The investigation is due to be completed by the end of August, after which the new rules could take effect. This could cause significant changes to the global chip supply chain and force companies to reconsider their manufacturing strategies.
Such high duties are expected to have a rather negative impact on the industry, especially on smaller companies that will not be able to cover the additional costs.