Trump threatens 100% tariffs on chips for companies that don't invest in the US
US President Donald Trump has announced a 100% tariff on chips and semiconductors, but with a significant exception for companies that invest in manufacturing in America. The statement was made during a press conference with Apple, which announced $100 billion in investment in manufacturing in the US. This is reported by The Verge.
"We’re going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors, but the good news for companies like Apple is if you’re building in the United States or have committed to build without question in the United States, there will be no charge," Trump said.
The president emphasized that even a commitment to invest in American manufacturing could be enough to avoid tariffs.
"If you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge, even though you’re building and not producing yet. If you’ve made a commitment to build or you’re in the process of building, as many are, there is no tariff, OK?," he explained.
It is difficult to determine which companies will be affected by the new tariffs, as most major chipmakers already have at least minimal commitments to manufacture in the U.S. Taiwan's TSMC, which makes the vast majority of advanced chips and has previously been criticized by Trump, announced a $100 billion investment in American manufacturing back in March.
Trump may be threatening tariffs on manufacturers of products that use chips, rather than on semiconductor manufacturers themselves. Apple, in particular, is not a chipmaker in the strict sense—it designs its own processors but relies on TSMC to manufacture them.
There is also a possibility that Trump will not impose this particular tariff at all. Previously, after announcing tariffs on chips in January and February, the administration never imposed them in April. Trump did not indicate when the new tariffs on chips might take effect.
In July, AMD CEO Lisa Su said that TSMC's US-made chips would cost the company 5-20% more than those made overseas, demonstrating the real costs of moving semiconductor production to the US.