Everyone was frightened by Trump’s new duties, but according to the US State Department, they will not affect the semiconductor industry. At least not yet.
The duties include a flat 10% duty on all incoming goods starting April 5, as well as higher special rates for about 60 countries, starting on April 9. However, many products, including computer components, copper, medicines, and lumber, will be spared from the new import levies. A senior White House official told Reuters that the Trump administration is preparing separate tariffs for semiconductors, medicines, and essential minerals.
SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: TRUMP PLANS OTHER SECTORAL TARIFFS FOR SEMICONDUCTORS, PHARMACEUTICALS AND POTENTIALLY CRITICAL MINERALS; THOSE ALSO WON’T BE COVERED BY NEW REGIME
— Max A. Cherney (@chernandburn) April 2, 2025
On the one hand, semiconductors will remain unaffected by the huge duties imposed (i.e., until there is a 32% tariff on Taiwanese chips). On the other hand, there will be some other duties, the amount of which is unknown.
Exceptions will allow American companies to to buy chips made in Taiwan is still good news for AMD, Broadcom, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. It also applies to chips made in Europe, Japan, and South Korea, which will appeal to the automotive and consumer electronics industries in the United States. This also applies to China.
However, there will be some duties, and it will probably be announced in the near future. Accordingly, we should not expect that prices for consumer electronics will not change.