U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States would impose a "fairly substantial tariff" on semiconductors imported into the country, after threatening previously to slap a 100-percent tax on the chips.
"We will be putting a tariff very shortly," Trump told a White House dinner of tech industry figures. "Not that high, but fairly substantial tariff.
He failed to include any particular timeline or additional information regarding the new tariff, which he has threatened to unleash in past months repeatedly.
Trump rattled Asian chipmaker stocks in early August by speaking of a possible 100-percent tariff on semiconductors produced by companies that fail to invest in the U.S.
We will be imposing a tariff of roughly 100 percent on chips and semiconductors, but if you're manufacturing in the United States.there's no fee," Trump explained then.
The U.S. and China are locked in a high-stakes race to make cutting-edge semiconductors that drive artificial intelligence networks. Arisa Liu, a senior researcher of semiconductors at Taiwan's Institute of Economic Research, said in August that a sharp U.S. chip tariff would be able to affect the "strategic direction of global semiconductor companies."
Trump's fresh tariff comments follow as he signaled intentions to request a quick Supreme Court decision when trying to reverse a court ruling that found many of his tariffs unconstitutional.
Still, the appellate court decision only addressed the constitutionality of his most sweeping tariffs and not sector-specific tariffs like those on steel or potentially semiconductors, which are widely viewed as having more solid legal basis.
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