Summary
- President Trump plans to impose tariffs on foreign computer chips and semiconductors in the “near future.”
- These tariffs could pose a risk of price hikes for tech products like phones and gaming consoles.
- Trump aims to incentivize US chip production, criticizing the CHIPs act giving money to already rich tech companies.
If you’ve been considering buying a new laptop, gaming console, or smartphone, you may want to do so sooner rather than later — the reason is potential tariffs.
Recently, US President Donald Trump said that his administration plans to put tariffs on foreign-made computer chips and semiconductors in the “near future.” Trump made the comments during a speech to the House Republican Issues Conference.
“In particular, in the very near future, we’re going to be placing tariffs on foreign production of computer chips, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals to return production of these essential goods to the United States.” Trump said. You can watch the video below.
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What the tariff rate would be is unclear
There is a risk some tech products in the US could become more expensive
Nintendo / Pocket-lint
Trump’s justification for tariffs is to incentivize companies to bolster the production of computer chips in the US. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, which promised to invest over $52 billion in domestic chip manufacturing. Trump slammed the CHIPs act for handing out money to companies that are already rich.
If tariffs are imposed on chips manufactured in Taiwan, there is a risk that some tech products in the US could see a price hike, like TVs, phones, graphics cards, and processors. Last year, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) released a report (via TechCrunch) that says Trump’s proposed tariffs could increase the price of laptops and tablets by 46 percent, smartphones by 26 percent, and gaming consoles by 40 percent. If the tariffs are in place when the Switch 2 comes out, it could affect the console’s price. This tweet sums it up best:
The tariff rate remains uncertain, but Bloomberg reports that Trump told reporters it would be “much bigger” than 2.5 percent. So, if you’re interested in a tech product with foreign-made chips or semiconductors, consider buying it sooner rather than later to avoid any uncertainty. Trump also spoke about DeepSeek, an AI app that recently hit number one on the App Store. He called the app’s recent success a “wake-up call” for the AI industry in the US.
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