Trump Announces 100% Tariffs on Imported Semiconductors

President Trump announced 100% tariffs on imported semiconductors except for companies committed to building in the United States. Those companies, including Apple, will face a 0% tariff. However, if the company doest not succeed in moving production to the U.S. they will face retroactive tariffs.

“We’re going to treat him really well. We’re gonna be putting a very large tariff on chips in semiconductors but the good news for companies like Apple is if you are building in the United States or have committed to build without question committed to build in the United States there will be no charge in other words, we’re not going to be charging. So a lot of countries a lot of companies are leaving various other places and they’re coming to the United States so in other words we’ll be putting a tariff on approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors but if you’r’e building in the United States of America there’s no charge” – President Trump.

In March 2025, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced an additional $100 billion investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, bringing its total planned investment to $165 billion. The expansion includes three new fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a major R&D center in Phoenix, Arizona. This marks the largest single foreign direct investment in U.S. history and aims to strengthen domestic semiconductor production for AI and other advanced applications.

TSMC expects this expansion to create 40,000 construction jobs over the next four years and generate tens of thousands of high-paying positions in chip manufacturing and R&D. Additionally, the project is projected to drive over $200 billion in indirect economic impact across the U.S. over the next decade. The Arizona fabs will support leading AI and tech companies, including Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, and Qualcomm, reinforcing America’s role in next-generation chip production.

Samsung operates two major semiconductor facilities in Texas as part of its U.S. expansion strategy. The Austin fab, opened in 1996, has received over $18 billion in investments and employs approximately 4,500 people, producing chips on mature nodes ranging from 65nm to 14nm for markets such as mobile, automotive, IoT, and high-performance computing. In Taylor, Samsung broke ground in 2022 on a new advanced chip fabrication plant with an initial $17 billion investment, which is expected to grow beyond $37 billion with support from the CHIPS and Science Act. The Taylor facility is intended to produce advanced logic chips for AI, 5G, and HPC applications, but its production timeline has slipped from 2024 to potentially 2026 due to factors including customer acquisition delays. Samsung has recently made strides to accelerate progress, including a reported $16.5 billion AI chip manufacturing deal with Tesla and aggressive hiring of sales and engineering talent from rival firms.

Intel’s U.S. semiconductor investments emphasize manufacturing resilience and alignment with national industrial policy, with more than $100 billion in planned spending across multiple states. These efforts are supported by up to $8.5 billion in CHIPS and Science Act grants and $11 billion in federal loans announced in 2024. Intel projects the creation of tens of thousands of jobs across its U.S. sites, including more than 20,000 direct jobs and over 70,000 construction roles, as part of its bid to lead in advanced packaging, logic, and systems foundry services. Key foundry customers include AWS and Microsoft, both committing to custom processors built on Intel’s 18A process node. Initial production for AWS is expected in 2025. Intel has also received a $3 billion federal grant to support secure chip manufacturing for defense applications. Test runs are underway with Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom, but as of mid-2025, high-volume 18A commitments remain limited and execution challenges persist. The company is ramping 18A production in Arizona and Oregon while investing in modernizing fabs in New Mexico and building new sites in Ohio. However, progress varies by site, with significant delays in Ohio, where fab production is now expected around 2030. Intel aims to establish a globally diverse systems foundry model anchored in U.S. soil, but success will depend on its ability to secure anchor customers for next-gen nodes such as 14A and sustain ecosystem momentum.