TMTPOST -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday further targeted semiconductor tariffs, and suggested companies building their products in the United States would be spared.
Credit：Xinhua News Agency
Trump said in the Oval Office that he will impose “a very large tariff” on semiconductors. The semiconductor tariffs would be around 100% and apply to all chips imported into the U.S. But for companies like Apple Inc. that pledge to build in the country, “there’s no charge,” according to the president.
"So 100% tariff on all chips and semiconductors coming into the United States. But if you"ve made a commitment to build (in the U.S.), or if you"re in the process of building (in the U.S.), as many are, there is no tariff," Trump said.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking alongside Trump, confirmed reported additional $100 billion investment in U.S. "I"m glad to be here with you today, and I"m very proud to say that today, we"re committing an additional $100 billion to the United States," Cook told Trump in the Oval Office. With the new commitment, Apple’s U.S. investment now totals $600 billion over the next four years.
Trump warned that companies would still face higher tariffs if they fail to live up to their pledge. "If, for some reason, you say you"re building and you don"t build, then we go back and we add it up, it accumulates, and we charge you at a later date, you have to pay, and that"s a guarantee," Trump said.
While it is not clear how the 100% semiconductor tariffs would impact worldwide companies, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd (TSMC) is among those expected to be relatively unaffected by the new tariffs. Taiwan-based TSMC dominates the market for manufacturing of the world’s most advanced chips and counts major major tech giants such as Apple Inc. as clients. The company has already invested $165 billion in a U.S. facility.
South Korea"s top trade envoy said on Thursday that domestic major chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will not be subject to 100% tariffs, and South Korea will have the most favourable levies on semiconductors under a trade deal with Washington and Seoul.
Malaysia’s trade minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz warned parliament his country "will risk losing a major market in the United States if its products become less competitive as a result of the imposition of these tariffs." Dan Lachica, president of the Philippine semiconductor industry, said Trump"s plan would be "devastating" for his country.
Trump’s remarks, though not an official announcement yet, came a day after his claim that hefty pharmaceutical tariffs would come. Trump on Tuesday said his administration would announce tariffs on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors "within the next week or so." The president suggested the pharmaceutical tariffs would be gradually lifted and eventually to 250%.
"We"ll be putting a initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year — one and a half years, maximum — it"s going to go to 150%. And then it’s going to go to 250%, because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country," Trump said in the CNBC interview. He said levies on semiconductors is a separate category “because we want them made in the United States.”
