US President Donald Trump said on Thursday his administration would impose tariffs on semiconductor imports from companies not shifting production to the US, speaking ahead of a dinner with major technology company CEOs.
Since returning to office in January, Trump’s threat of tariffs has alienated trading partners, stirred volatility in financial markets and fuelled global economic uncertainty.
“Yeah, I have discussed it with the people here. Chips and semiconductors – we will be putting tariffs on companies that aren’t coming in. We will be putting a tariff very shortly,” Trump said without giving an exact time or rate.
“We will be putting a very substantial tariff, not that high, but fairly substantial tariff with the understanding that if they come into the country, if they are coming in, building, planning to come in, there will not be a tariff,” Trump told reporters.
Trump has made tariffs a pillar of US foreign policy, using them to exert political pressure and renegotiate trade deals and extract concessions from countries and companies that export goods to the US.
