Trump imposes 25% tariff on select foreign A.I. semiconductors

President Trump signed a proclamation on Wednesday to impose a 25 percent tariff on a narrow list of foreign semiconductors, a White House document said, and the tariff would take effect Thursday. The document said the 25 percent duty applies to A.I. chips made by companies like Nvidia and AMD that are imported into the United States and then re-exported to other countries.

The tariff would not apply to semiconductors brought into the country for domestic use in data centers or in products for American consumers, industry or government, allowing the government to collect revenue from sales of A.I. chips to China. The move is far more limited than the sweeping measures Mr.

Trump had previously threatened; last August he warned of a 100 percent tariff unless manufacturers committed to U.S. investment. The administration began its chips inquiry under Section 232 and on Tuesday the Commerce Department issued a rule allowing the sale of Nvidia’s H200 chip to China after a prior ban.

The White House also said it had concluded a Section 232 investigation into critical minerals and would refrain from placing tariffs on that sector for now, instead directing officials to seek trade agreements to increase access to those materials. The White House said broader tariffs on semiconductor imports or products containing them could still be imposed in the near future and that a program could offer tariff relief to companies that manufacture chips domestically.

Key Topics

Business, Nvidia, Amd, Donald Trump, China