TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Aug25/06)
12 August 2025
Third World Network

Trade: Trump’s threat of 100% tariff on chips likely to hit East Asia hard
Published in SUNS #10279 dated 8 August 2025

Geneva, 7 Aug (D. Ravi Kanth) — United States President Donald Trump on 6 August announced his allegedly unilateral sectoral plan to impose a 100% tariff on chips and semiconductors, in an attempt to bring the chip industry back to America at the cost of closing down chip and semiconductor factories in other countries, said people familiar with the development.

Speaking at an event at the White House on 6 August, President Trump touted how investments in the chip and semiconductor sectors are multiplying in the US, with the latest announcement by Apple to invest $100 billion in the US.

The US Commerce Department has been conducting a Section 232 investigation into whether imported chips pose a threat to US national security.

“We’re going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors. But the good news for companies like Apple is if you’re building in the United States or have committed to build, without question, committed to build in the United States, there will be no charge,” President Trump said.

“So, in other words, we’ll be putting a tariff on of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors. But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge,” he added. +