The latest Trump chip tariff announcement raises more questions than answers

After months of speculation, US President Donald Trump revealed the semiconductor tariff plans, but his recent threats may raise more questions than answers.

On Wednesday, Trump said he would impose a 100 % tariff on semiconductor imports and chips, but not to Companies Which is “building in the United States”.

It also represents semiconductors More than 600 billion dollars industry At the heart of the modern digital economy, any possible tariff bears a great weight.

However, experts say that the president has not yet provided major details about politics, which will eventually determine its full impact and goals.

“It is still very early to determine the impact of definitions on the semiconductor sector,” Ray Wang, CNBC, CNBC.

“The final rule is likely to be formulated and technical details are far from clarity at this stage.”

The United States is working on the beach of the semiconductor supply chain for many years. Since 2020, the largest semiconductor companies in the world like TSMC and Samsung Electronics She adhered to hundreds of billions of dollars to build plants in the United States

Speaking to “Squawk Box ASIA” from CNBC on Thursday, James Sullivan, Managing Director and Head of Stock Research in Asia Pacific at JP Morgan, may mean that most major manufacturers of chips receive exemptions.

If this is the case, the policy may have the influence of “continuing to unify the market share among the largest players in space,” said Sullivan.

In fact, the shares of the major Asian chip companies such as TSMC, which have significant investments in the United States, have risen on Thursday morning circulating after Trump’s announcement. Early this year, tsmc Declare Its investments in the United States will expand to $ 165 billion.

Samsung and SK Hynix shares were also traded from South Korea – which committed both investments in the United States – after a Korean commercial envoy on the radio said the duo would be a 100 % tariff.

For example, in 2024, the United States imported $ 46.3 billion of semiconductors – only about 1 % of US imports, according to L. Information and Innovation Technology Corporation.

While Rasgon said the definitions of these imports may be manageable, it will be difficult to deal with the broader customs tariff.

“What we do not know about Trump’s comments on the customs tariff, is it just the semi -raw conductors? Will there be a tariff on the final devices? Will you look into the definitions of the components within the final devices?”

Confusion and questions about the semiconductor tariffs were brought to the forefront after the US Department of Commerce began National security investigation One of the semiconductor imports in April, just as the sector was Exempt Of the “mutual” definitions Trump.

The mysterious language of the Trump administration – although it is not invoked in the latest presidential statements – can be used in theory to apply the wide customs tariff to a huge segment of the electronics supply chain. It is also unclear to what extent will you decrease the semiconductor materials and equipment used to manufacture chips under the definitions.

Another large buyer is a semiconductor in the United States Amazon Web services and GoogleIt is necessary for Washington AI plans.

According to the hadith a report From ITIF, semiconductors contribute 7 trillion dollars to global economic activity annually by supporting a set of estuary applications, including AI and “big data”.

In a possible sign of American companies that seek to transfer chips supply chains to the United States, apple CEO Tim Cook, along with Trump at the White House on Wednesday, announced that he will be provided with chips from the Samsung production factory in Texas.

The company also announced an additional $ 100 billion in US investments, raising the total investment obligations in the country to $ 600 billion over the next four years.