Trump Proposes Steep Tariffs on Semiconductors, Potentially Impacting AI Industry

Trump mulls a 300% tariff on chips

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to introduce steep new trade duties on steel, semiconductors, and possibly pharmaceuticals within the next two weeks. What could bewilder the high-tech industry is that Trump is mulling up to 300% tariffs on semiconductors, according to Bloomberg. "I am going to have a rate that is going to be 200%, 300%," said Trump while talking to journalists onboard of the Air Force One, according to Bloomberg. The threat would certainly make PC enthusiasts wonder whether they will have to pay $1,999 for Nvidia's top-end GeForce RTX 5090 as they do now, or nearly $6,000 if the proposal comes into effect. Buy, maybe not at all? Trump's habit of announcing extreme tariff plans -- like 200% - 300% duties on semiconductors -- without actually putting them in place creates prolonged uncertainty that impacts the whole semiconductor supply chain. For chipmakers, electronics brands, and AI companies, the lack of clear timelines or rules forces them to make contingency plans that may never be needed, tying up resources and slowing real investment. This kind of drawn-out "will he or won't he" approach can push companies to make hasty shifts toward U.S. production, but it also risks leaving them exposed if the promised tariffs either change dramatically or never arrive. Trump has long threatened tariffs under a Section 232 investigation, which allows the U.S. Department of Commerce to investigate the impact of certain imports on national security, and then allows the adjustment of tariffs at the President's discretion. The Department of Commerce has had a Section 232 investigation underway for several months, but the timeline for the end result isn't yet known.

Trump to put tariffs on steel and semiconductor chips

President Donald Trump said he plans to put tariffs on imported steel and semiconductor chips as soon as next week, a report said. "I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after on steel and on, I would say, chips," the president said on Friday to reporters aboard Air Force One as he travels to Alaska to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported. "I'm going to have a rate that is going to be lower at the beginning -- that gives them a chance to come in and build -- and very high after a certain period of time," Trump said according to the report. At the beginning of June, the president placed a 50% tariff rate on imported steel and aluminum. And just last week, he said he would put a 100% tariff on chips, adding that if companies build in the U.S. then "there is no charge." Trump made the announcement during a press conference in the Oval Office with Apple CEO Tim Cook. During the conference, Cook said the iPhone maker is investing an extra $100 billion in the U.S., bringing the total of its planned corporate domestic spending to $600 billion over four years. "But the good news for companies like Apple is if you're building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge," the president added. "The higher you go, the more likely it is they build a plant here," President Trump said in mid-June at the White House in regards to a possible tariff rate hike on imported autos. The policy, part of Trump's "America First" agenda, aims to bolster domestic manufacturing by penalizing companies that rely on overseas chip production. For AI companies, the stakes are particularly high. Semiconductors are the backbone of AI infrastructure, powering everything from data centers to autonomous vehicles. Yet while Trump's semiconductor tariffs threaten global supply chains, years of U.S. buildout plans have left AI's biggest firms largely insulated. -- Joseph Zeballos-Roig and Shannon Carroll contributed to this article.