Donald Trump has shaken up the tech world again, this time promising a fresh wave of tariffs aimed directly at semiconductors—just days after announcing a temporary exemption on a wide range of electronics.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump said he’d reveal the new semiconductor tariff rates “over the next week,” adding there would be some wiggle room for certain companies, reported REUTERS. While semiconductors—aka chips—power pretty much every device from smartphones to laptops, they’re now set to fall under a new, more targeted tariff system.
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Friday’s announcement that items like phones, computers, and even the machines used to make chips would be exempt from tariffs had offered brief relief, especially for companies relying on Chinese imports, which have been facing sky-high duties. But the calm didn’t last.
On Sunday, Trump made it clear the exemption won’t stick, and that those same products would soon fall under new rules tied specifically to the semiconductor sector. “The tariffs will be in place in the not too distant future,” he said.
He later posted on social media that semiconductors and the entire electronics supply chain would be examined as part of a national security investigation. “We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the WHOLE ELECTRONIC SUPPLY CHAIN in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations,” he wrote, adding that the exempted electronics are just being moved to a “different Tariff ‘bucket.’”
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Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick backed this up, saying the earlier exemption was only temporary. “All those products are going to come under semiconductors, and they’re going to have a special focus type of tariff,” he said, emphasising the push to reshore production. “We need to have semiconductors… made in America.”
This isn’t the first shake-up in Trump’s trade policy this month. After announcing sweeping tariffs on nearly every country on April 3, he paused most of them six days later—dropping the rate to 10% for everyone except China. That sparked a rapid escalation, with Trump bumping China’s tariff rate up to 125%, on top of an earlier 20% hike linked to fentanyl trade accusations. China, of course, fired back with its tariffs.
The latest changes have rattled major tech players. Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Nvidia, and Meta—all part of the so-called “Magnificent Seven”—have been thrown into uncertainty. Dan Ives from Wedbush summed it up: “The White House is dizzying for the industry and investors and creating massive uncertainty and chaos.”
With supply chains anchored in Asia, bringing production stateside would cost billions and take years. But Trump’s message is clear—make it in America or pay the price.
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