Trump warns of "substantial" tariffs for chipmakers not shifting production to the US

[Skye Jacobs]

What just happened? President Donald Trump has said his administration would move ahead with tariffs on imported semiconductors from companies that have not shifted production to the United States. Trump's comments added to weeks of trade tension that have unsettled financial markets and heightened uncertainty for global manufacturers. Since returning to office in January, he has leaned heavily on tariff threats as leverage to secure new commitments from foreign companies and governments, a strategy that has often strained US relations with key trading partners.

Speaking with reporters, Trump said semiconductor firms that are not expanding in the US should expect penalties soon. "Chips and semiconductors – we will be putting tariffs on companies that aren't coming in. We will be putting a tariff very shortly," he said, though he provided no timeline or rate. He characterized the planned measure as "a very substantial tariff," while noting that manufacturers building or planning facilities in the US would be exempt.

Trump singled out Apple as an example of a company unlikely to face penalties. The iPhone maker recently increased its investment pledge in the United States to $600 billion over the next four years.

In August, Trump announced plans for a tariff of roughly 100 percent on imported semiconductors, with exemptions for firms either producing in the US or pledging to do so. Several major foreign producers have already expanded their presence in the US. TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK hynix have all committed capital toward American chip manufacturing, with the goal of securing access to the US market without facing new duties.

Tariffs have been a fixture of Trump's broader economic agenda and a central feature of his second term. The president has framed them as a bargaining tool to renegotiate trade deals and compel manufacturing investment inside the United States, yet his sweeping use of trade penalties has faced mounting legal challenges.

Just this week, the administration petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear a case that could determine whether Trump can continue imposing wide-ranging tariffs under a 1977 law originally intended for emergency situations. A lower court recently struck down large portions of his administration's tariff program, threatening to unravel much of the trade policy Trump has pursued since returning to the White House.

For now, the threat of new penalties against non-US semiconductor suppliers injects fresh uncertainty into a sector already grappling with geopolitical pressure and supply chain realignments. Whether the tariffs spur more domestic production as intended – or deepen global market strains – remains an open question.

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Trump warns of "substantial" tariffs for chipmakers not shifting production to the US

 

[axiomatic13]

Damn, he is so dumb. I have no idea how anyone takes him seriously. This will fail, like everything else he touches.

 

[Y2JB47]

He does not have a single legitimate success he can point at since being in power. Everything he touches is a total disaster.

 

[maxxcool7421]

This yet again shows he and his ponzi scheming cadre have no clue how the world works.. as a convicted sex abuser, and convicted fraud felon he has zero understanding of global economics and were losing skilled talent by the hour to other countries.

"Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....unless you are black, brown, asian, tan, gay .. if your any of those we will kill you"

 

[Loadedaxe]

This yet again shows he and his ponzi scheming cadre have no clue how the world works.. as a convicted sex abuser, and convicted fraud felon he has zero understanding of global economics and were losing skilled talent by the hour to other countries.

"Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....unless you are black, brown, asian, tan, gay .. if your any of those we will kill you"

That’s just a pile of overcooked rhetoric. You don’t need to make up cartoonish exaggerations to criticize policy…..you just discredit yourself when you do.

Nobody is hunting down people based on skin color or orientation, and pretending otherwise trivializes real discrimination.

If you want to argue immigration, economics, or leadership, then stick to actual facts instead of mashing together insults, poetry, and conspiracy buzzwords.

 

[Loadedaxe]

Damn, he is so dumb. I have no idea how anyone takes him seriously. This will fail, like everything else he touches.

You don’t have to like him, but pretending everything he’s touched has “failed” is just lazy. Whether it’s policy, elections, or influence, he’s clearly had major wins….otherwise people wouldn’t still be talking about him years later.

Writing him off as “dumb” doesn’t explain why he continues to pull support. If you want to argue against him, at least deal with the reality of his impact instead of reducing it to insults.

 

[seeprime]

Maybe he should be working with the companies instead of against them.

 

[NotYourITguy]

Maybe he should be working with the companies instead of against them.

Buying up 10% of Intel is a direct way to "work with the companies". So is meeting with the CEOs of Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Intel, and several more. Frankly it's not even worth having a conversation on the internet with Americans who are so entrenched in party politics they can't debate anything without reverting to dichotomous drivel.

As the article correctly assesses at the end, whether tariffs work long term or not will take years if not decades to know how effective they really become or not. What is evident is that major businesses like Apple, Meta, TSMC, Google, Intel, Microsoft, and many more have drastically pivoted on their investment strategies to accommodate the current political climate.

If anyone wants a prime example of following the money, just look at Facebook's moderation changes between 2018 and present day which are heavily influenced by the prior and current administrations.

 

[BogdanR]

.
If anyone wants a prime example of following the money, just look at Facebook's moderation changes between 2018 and present day which are heavily influenced by the prior and current administrations.

Moderation? Facebook? I hope you’re joking. Everything goes now on Facebook except nudity and minor copyright stuff.

 

[BogdanR]

Chip production is strategic, I remember arguing this at the turn of the Millennium when my worries that a lot of the stuff was either being ruthlessly merged/ consolidated or outright shipped out to East Asia, were met with accusations of being anti-capitalism/ communist.

While it is absolutely imperative to have advanced chip production in America, I’m not sold on Trump’s “stick only” approach. Such tariffs will directly impact the giants of the US tech industry which are essentially the top crop of the US economy. Such tariffs also greatly impact the American public itself, regardless of what this current Administration is trying to peddle. The US government does not have the same total control over their population like China does so they will face major backlash.

But then again when Trump is starting to appear on “Apocalypse Now” like posters directed at Chicago, maybe that’s where America is headed: China like state capitalism, single party government, total control over the population. All the signs point there.

 

[dangh]

China is already only 4 years behind. In 10 years we will be buying chinese chips and we won't care about US anymore. He only making sure no one will care.

 

[Ashford]

Nobody is hunting down people based on skin color or orientation, and pretending otherwise trivializes real discrimination.

About 450 well trained technicians with Korean heritage that used to work at Hyundai would disagree with you... as would several hundred others deported without any due process.. but you know this and just want to gaslight the room.

 

[m4a4]

About 450 well trained technicians with Korean heritage that used to work at Hyundai would disagree with you... as would several hundred others deported without any due process.. but you know this and just want to gaslight the room.

How horrible! Citizens and/or legal immigrants were deported for no reason other than their race or ethnicity??

...I mean, unless you're being disingenuous..?

 

[m4a4]

I don't understand how something so critically important has been left out of a superpower's hands for so long.
Shouldn't everyone in the USA be on board with shifting something like this to within the safety of their borders?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

You don’t have to like him, but pretending everything he’s touched has “failed” is just lazy. Whether it’s policy, elections, or influence, he’s clearly had major wins….otherwise people wouldn’t still be talking about him years later.

Writing him off as “dumb” doesn’t explain why he continues to pull support. If you want to argue against him, at least deal with the reality of his impact instead of reducing it to insults.

Ha ha, comedy gold.

 

[gamerk2]

I don't understand how something so critically important has been left out of a superpower's hands for so long.
Shouldn't everyone in the USA be on board with shifting something like this to within the safety of their borders?

In theory: Yes. And the best way to do that is to incentive through subsidies to cover the high cost of production here, alongside investments in education similar to what we had during the 60s via the NDEA. And it "worked"; Intel and TSMC produced fabs in the US under Bidens Chip Act.

The problem with tariffs is that you increase costs for everybody, which hurts both profits (less reinvestment) and demand (less goods sold due to higher costs).

Tariffs "work" in very isolated situations where it's necessary to protect domestic mass production of goods from cheaper overseas products. But slapping across the board tariffs is economic suicide, as you raise the costs on *everything*, including things we don't/can't produce here (in which case, a tariff is simply a consumption tax).

Also remember the US's economic policy the last 60 years or so has been built around keeping the cost of goods and services as cheap as possible, and that's what's gotten us into this mess. The economic problems the US had then were never really "solved", just hidden under cheap imports. If anything, recent economic policy is going to show just how bad off the typical consumer really is. And personally, I fully expect the bottom to drop out over the next year or so.

 

[maxxcool7421]

And the convicted sex abuser, felon CANNOT make customer pay extra to build chips in the US.... look at the intel ohio plant. NO CUSTOMERS. good job spending all that money buying intel shares republiKan government ... you bought garbage and wasted even more money than the 4.2 trillion dollars well lose in the next 3 years from the ''big bill'' ponzi scheme ...

but thats what you get when you elect a convicted fraud, sex abuser for a president who hides from the epstien list .. what a great church leader you christians elected.

 

[m4a4]

In theory: Yes. And the best way to do that is to incentive through subsidies to cover the high cost of production here, alongside investments in education similar to what we had during the 60s via the NDEA. And it "worked"; Intel and TSMC produced fabs in the US under Bidens Chip Act.

Yeah, but it doesn't seem like that incentive was taken all that seriously from what I've heard or seen (or from what you're saying either).

And it seems that at least he's being clear; pledge investment back into the US to avoid upcoming chipmaking-specific tariffs. Heavy handed, but at least it's not relying on handouts...

 

[gamerk2]

Yeah, but it doesn't seem like that incentive was taken all that seriously from what I've heard or seen (or from what you're saying either).

As I noted: Both TSMC and Intel built *new* fab facilities as part of the Chips Act.

And it seems that at least he's being clear; pledge investment back into the US to avoid upcoming chipmaking-specific tariffs. Heavy handed, but at least it's not relying on handouts...

Except as I noted: It won't work economically. Other countries won't purchase US produced goods due to high costs (nevermind their own tariffs in retaliation), and will actively avoid other US products (which we already see happening) hurting the few companies that *do* export.

It's very simple: If you want production done anywhere where production costs are higher, then your options are either:
A: Subsidize the costs to keep products cost effective
B: Accept higher costs to both businesses and consumers, and give up on any significant amount of exports

Trumps going with option B, and we already see the economy starting to buckle under the higher costs.

 

[Fuzzy Dunalap]

Nobody is hunting down people based on skin color or orientation, and pretending otherwise trivializes real discrimination.

ICE is literally doing this. Looking up anyone that is suspected of being a Spanish speaking background, no matter their immigration status. Legal citizen? They don't care, their is a quota to fill.

 

[Eldrach]

I have a sneaky feeling these "massive investments" from the major players to get tariff exemptions require a "3,5 year planning period".

Because they know...deep inside - that making this in the US equals financial suicide. You can't make phones and gpu's in the US without massively increasing the cost. With costs of gpu's already up at 3k dollars, imagine if the base cost went up with 250%

 

[Y2JB47]

I have a sneaky feeling these "massive investments" from the major players to get tariff exemptions require a "3,5 year planning period".

Because they know...deep inside - that making this in the US equals financial suicide. You can't make phones and gpu's in the US without massively increasing the cost. With costs of gpu's already up at 3k dollars, imagine if the base cost went up with 250%

This is the elephant in the room that no maga supporter has ever attempted to explain.

 

[Starfals]

I cant even imagine a single person voting for someone that will make their future phones/laptops and computers 50-500% more expensive.
Yet.............here we are... there is a country that did that. They voted for MUCH HIGHER taxes. Even Robin Hood would laugh at them. Here, if anyone even mention a 2% tax increase... people flip out. I guess Americans love being milked. Enjoy your RTX 6060 ti for 2500 dollarz. I don't even dare imagine the price of 6090 ;p Is starting to sound like Brazil. Poor Brazilians too, they used to go to the US to buy tech (cus it's super overpriced at their stores). Where will they go now? ;p

 

[Beerfloat]

Yeah, but it doesn't seem like that incentive was taken all that seriously from what I've heard or seen (or from what you're saying either).

And it seems that at least he's being clear; pledge investment back into the US to avoid upcoming chipmaking-specific tariffs. Heavy handed, but at least it's not relying on handouts...

Whether through higher taxes or paying tariffs on imports, US citizens and companies are the ones bankrolling this stuff. It makes no difference for us.

The proceeds from the tariffs won’t be coming our way, though. That’s going directly to more tax relief for the top earners. This is blatant wealth redistribution but that’s ok as long as it flows upwards. Else it’d be communism.

 

[lonetac]

How horrible! Citizens and/or legal immigrants were deported for no reason other than their race or ethnicity??

...I mean, unless you're being disingenuous..?

Yes. If they were white, they wouldnt have been deported. Justice and liberty for all. No exceptions. That means due process for all brown people too.

US citizens who are not white are being targeted, trying to paint it any other way is being disingenuous. In fact, its so illegal, they wear masks to cover their identity of harassing and violating human rights in our country so they cant be identified when the trials start.

I was just following orders is not a permissible excuse. They tried that once.