US to impose 100% tax on imported chips and semiconductors
US President Donald Trump said the country will impose a 100% tax on imported chips and semiconductors.
According to Reuters, US President Donald Trump said that the US will impose a 100% tax on semiconductor chips imported from countries that do not produce in the US or plan to produce them.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on August 6 (Washington time), President Trump said the new tariffs would apply to "all chips and semiconductors imported into the United States," but would not apply to companies that have committed to manufacturing in the United States or are in the process of doing so.
"If for some reason you say you're building and you're not building, we'll go back and add it up, it'll accumulate and we'll charge you at a later date, you'll have to pay, and that's for sure," President Trump added.
These comments were not an official announcement of tariffs, and President Trump did not provide any further specifics.
It’s unclear how many chips or from which countries will be affected by the new tariffs. Taiwanese contract chipmaker TSMC — which makes chips for most US companies — has factories in the country, so its major customers like Nvidia are unlikely to face increased tariff costs.
The AI chip giant has announced plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in US-made chips and electronics over the next four years, a spokesperson for Nvidia declined to comment on the report.
The US Congress created a $52.7 billion semiconductor research and manufacturing subsidy program by 2022. The Commerce Department under President Joe Biden in 2024 convinced all five leading semiconductor companies to locate chip factories in the US as part of that subsidy program.
The Commerce Department also said that last year the United States produced about 12% of semiconductor chips globally, down from 40% in 1990.
