The Trump administration has indicated it will develop a new suite of tariffs on the semiconductor industry, separate to the “reciprocal” tariffs already announced for most American trading partners.
Commonly known as chips, semiconductors are the foundation for most electronic devices.
On Friday, local time, the government issued a tariff exemption for a range of electronics exported to the United States.
The notice, published by US Customs and Border Protection, applied to items such as smartphones, computers, hard-drives, flat-panels, some chips and the machines used to make them.
The exemption means tech products arriving from China, which is currently subject to a 145 per cent tariff, and other nations, which are facing a 10 per cent baseline tariff amid a 90-day pause on the levies initially announced on “Liberation Day”, would have no tariffs imposed on them.
But on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said the exclusion of smartphones and computers from his reciprocal tariffs would be short-lived, and that they would be instead be classified under a forthcoming category of tariffs specific to the semiconductor sector.
“The tariffs will be in place in the not too distant future,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Asked what the rate for semiconductors would be, he said: “I’m going to be announcing it over the next week”, adding that there would be flexibility for some companies.
Credit:abc