President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration will impose tariffs on semiconductor imports from companies that do not shift production to the United States, speaking ahead of a dinner with top technology executives.
“Chips and semiconductors we will be putting tariffs on companies that aren’t coming in. We will be putting a tariff very shortly,” Trump told reporters, without specifying the timing or rate.
The president added that firms investing in U.S. production would be exempt. “We will be putting a very substantial tariff, not that high, but fairly substantial… with the understanding that if they come into the country, if they are coming in, building, planning to come in, there will not be a tariff,” he said.
Trump, who returned to office in January, has made tariffs a central plank of his foreign policy, using them to pressure trading partners and renegotiate agreements. His approach has unsettled global markets and heightened economic uncertainty.
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“If they are not coming in, there is a tariff,” Trump said. Gesturing to Apple CEO Tim Cook across the table, he added, “I would say Tim Cook would be in pretty good shape.” Apple recently boosted its U.S. investment commitment to $600 billion over the next four years.
Trump last month floated a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, with exemptions for companies already producing or pledging to produce in the U.S. Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have all announced U.S. manufacturing projects.
His tariff policies have faced legal hurdles. Earlier this year, a lower court struck down most of the levies enacted under a 1977 emergency law, prompting the administration to ask the Supreme Court for a swift review to preserve what has been a cornerstone of Trump’s trade agenda.
