Trump says semiconductor tariffs coming soon, could reach 300%

US President Donald Trump said he would set levies on semiconductors in the coming two weeks, the latest indication he is readying a substantial expansion of his tariff regime.

“I’ll be setting tariffs next week and the week after, on steel and on, I would, say chips – chips and semiconductors, we’ll be setting sometime next week, week after,” Mr Trump told reporters on Aug 15 aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It was not clear if Mr Trump misspoke about steel tariffs. He already hiked duties on steel and aluminium imports to 50 per cent in June.

The president has repeatedly promised that levies on chips and pharmaceuticals are coming within weeks, but no formal announcements have yet been made. 

Both sectors have been under Commerce Department investigation since April, a prerequisite for Mr Trump to impose tariffs on national security grounds. That process can prove complicated and probes can take months or longer to resolve.

Manufacturers and artificial intelligence firms have been eager for more clarity about his plans for semiconductor rates, since chips are included in a wide range of modern consumer products. 

Last week, Mr Trump said during an event with Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook that he planned a 100 per cent tariff on semiconductors, while exempting products from companies that are moving manufacturing to the US.

The White House has not offered a subsequent explanation for how that exemption would work, but Mr Trump implied that Apple – which has pledged a US$600 billion (S$769 billion) domestic manufacturing initiative – could be exempt.

On Aug 15, Mr Trump suggested the charge on imported semiconductors could be even higher.

“I’m going to have a rate that is going to be 200 per cent, 300 per cent?” Mr Trump said.

The US president indicated that he could speak about tariffs with Mr Putin, and said he believed the Russian leader planned to bring business leaders to the summit. 

“I noticed he’s bringing a lot of business people from Russia, and that’s good I like that because they want to do business,” Mr Trump said. “But they’re not doing business until we get the war settled.”

Mr Trump in recent weeks has threatened to impose higher tariff rates on purchasers of Russian energy, including a pledge to impose a 50 per cent levy on goods from India. He has also suggested he could ratchet up economic costs on Moscow if the meeting does not go well. BLOOMBERG