Trump Announces 100% Tariff on Semiconductors, With Exemptions for Companies Building in the U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump today said that there will be a 100 percent tariff on chips and semiconductors imported into the United States, but with a major exception.

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Companies that are building in the United States, or that have made a commitment to build in the U.S., will not have to pay the tariffs. Since Apple pledged to spend $600 billion on U.S. manufacturing, the company will presumably be exempted from the planned chip tariffs.

"If you're building in the United States, or made a commitment to build or are in the process, there's no charge," Trump said. He added that if companies promise to bring manufacturing to the U.S. and don't follow through, tariffs will be "added up" and "charged at a later date."

The Trump administration exempted semiconductors and derivative products like the iPhone from reciprocal tariffs in countries like China and India, but Trump has been promising to levy high fees on chip imports.

Apple sources its chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and there were fears that chip tariffs could have a significant impact on Apple's costs as a result. For now, it looks like Apple is going to avoid any additional tariffs on the chips that it uses for its devices. Trump made the announcement during a White House press event with Apple CEO Tim Cook, where Cook announced an additional U.S. manufacturing investment. There is no word on when semiconductor tariffs will be put in place.

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Top Rated Comments

justanotherdave Avatar
24 weeks ago
You mean Trump announces a tax on US consumers buying anything with semiconductors.
Score: 96 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GizmoDVD Avatar
24 weeks ago

You mean Trump announces a tax on US consumers buying anything with semiconductors.
People downvoting still don’t understand what a tariff is.
Score: 72 Votes (Like | Disagree)
asdfjkl; Avatar
24 weeks ago
This is the stupidest thing ever. The Constitution explicitly states that only Congress has the ability to raise taxes (and tariffs are just import taxes). The law that delegates some power to the President does not even mention tariffs and Trump's claim of an emergency is laughable.

This. Must. Stop.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DesertNomad Avatar
24 weeks ago
This is just chaos. Nobody can plan business activity with daily tariff changes based on a Magic 8 Ball.
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Devyn89 Avatar
24 weeks ago
just a reminder he doesn’t have the power to do this, if Congress did its job this wouldn’t be happening.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rradcircless Avatar
24 weeks ago
Anyway, release the Epstein Files.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)