Trump administration plans chip tariffs, with exemptions for U.S. manufacturers

PANews, September 2 — U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering a new round of tariffs on imported semiconductors and may further increase levies on foreign chips in order to attract more semiconductor manufacturing to the United States. However, these tariffs may be implemented alongside tariff relief measures for companies investing in U.S. domestic manufacturing, following the approach the Trump administration previously adopted for the pharmaceutical industry. Lutnick said, “This is the principle the semiconductor industry should follow: if you produce in the United States, we will give you tariff relief; if you do not produce in the United States, you will pay tariffs. This is a very smart approach, and it works.” Trump has already imposed 25% tariffs on some advanced semiconductors and, after the U.S. Commerce Department completed the relevant trade investigation, ordered additional import tariffs on these chips in January this year. However, the scope of the new round of tariffs may expand from semiconductors themselves to products containing chips, thereby affecting imports of data center servers and consumer electronics.