US President Donald Trump is readying plans for industry-specific tariffs to kick in alongside his country-by-country duties in two weeks, ramping up his push to reshape the US’ standing in the global trading system by penalizing purchases from abroad.
Administration officials could release details of Trump’s planned 50 percent duty on copper in the days before they are set to take effect on Friday next week, a person familiar with the matter said.
That is the same date Trump’s “reciprocal” levies on products from more than 100 nations are slated to begin.
Photo: AFP
Trump on Tuesday said that he is likely to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals by month’s end, adding that import taxes on semiconductors could come soon as well.
One person familiar with the process said that after copper, Trump’s team had discussed making announcements on lumber, chips, critical minerals and drugs in that order, although that cadence had not been finalized.
Those would follow existing duties on steel, aluminum, vehicles and auto parts.
Once fully implemented, all the sectoral tariffs would cover 30 to 70 percent of a country’s imports, with much of the rest being hit by country-specific charges, a person familiar with the matter said.
After investigations that could last about nine months, sectoral duties are being imposed on national security grounds under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act.
Chip tariffs are on a “similar” timeline to drugs and are “actually less complicated,” Trump said on Tuesday last week.
Semiconductors were exempted earlier this year from US tariffs on China to give the administration time to develop separate duties. The wide array of exempted products, including inputs for consumer electronics, suggests a broad consideration of the item that could get hit later.
Tech companies, auto manufacturers, boat makers and cryptocurrency enthusiasts are among those who have registered complaints over potential levies, according to public comments on the probe, which started in April.
The charges would not just hit the chips themselves, but popular products including Apple Inc’s and Samsung Electronics Co’s smartphones and laptops. It is even brought together rivals Tesla Inc, General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co, which have all voiced reservations.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in a letter dated on May 5 said that any US tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona.
“New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in the letter to the US Department of Commerce.
TSMC is investing US$65 billion to build three advanced wafer fabs in Arizona. In March, the company pledged an additional US$100 billion of investment in Arizona to build three more wafer fabs, two packaging and testing plants and a research-and-development center to bring the total investment to US$165 billion.
Additional reporting by CNA
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