Trump moves closer to semiconductor tariffs, floats pause on auto duties

United States President Donald Trump has advanced plans to introduce tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceutical products, even as he floated the possibility of a reprieve from his duties on the auto industry.

In the latest flurry of trade announcements on Monday, the Trump administration launched investigations into the national security implications of importing the goods and related products, including chip-making equipment and pharmaceutical ingredients.

The probes follow Trump’s remarks over the weekend that he would announce the details of new tariffs on semiconductors within days, after his administration exempted the chips and other high-tech goods from his “reciprocal” tariffs unveiled on April 2.

The investigations are the latest trade-related probes initiated by the US under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which the Trump administration has also used to scrutinise imports of copper, lumber, steel and aluminium.

Semiconductors are crucial to the manufacturing of almost all modern electronics.

The US is heavily dependent on semiconductor imports from Asia, especially Taiwan, though Trump, like his predecessor Joe Biden, has been pushing companies to make more of the chips domestically.

In an announcement that was hailed by the White House as an example of Trump’s trade policies in action, chip giant Nvidia on Monday said that it would spend up to $500bn building its artificial intelligence super computers on US soil for the first time.