Trump administration plans to impose new chip tariffs, with exemptions for U.S.-based manufacturers

Odaily News U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering a new round of tariffs on imported semiconductors, potentially raising taxes on foreign chips further in an effort to attract more semiconductor manufacturing to the United States. However, these tariffs may be paired with 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: "That's the principle that should apply to the semiconductor industry: if you produce in the United States, we will grant you tariff relief; if you don't produce in the United States, you will pay tariffs. This is a very sensible approach, and it works." Trump has already imposed 25% tariffs on certain advanced semiconductors and, after the U.S. Commerce Department completed its trade investigation, ordered additional import tariffs on these chips in January this year. However, the scope of the new tariffs may expand from semiconductors themselves to products containing chips, thereby affecting imports of data center servers and consumer electronics. (Jin10)