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US Considers Fresh Round of Tariffs On Semiconductors (cnbc.com) 81

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNBC: U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is reportedly considering new tariffs on semiconductors used in the U.S., as tech giants race to beat China in the artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out. The duties will be imposed on an expanded range of tech products made alongside chips, including laptops, data center servers and gaming hardware, eight people familiar with the matter told Politico in a report published Thursday.

The measures, which are still in the early phases and subject to significant changes over the next few months, will be introduced via a staggered rollout period, according to the report. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC, but told Politico: "Reshoring semiconductor manufacturing is a top priority for President Trump, whose policies have already secured hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in this key sector." The tech industry is pushing back on the tariffs, warning they could raise chip costs, slow data-center construction, and undermine the very AI expansion the administration wants to promote. "This may be the single dumbest way imaginable to pursue American dominance in AI," said one tech official from a major industry group that also served in the first Trump administration. "It's like kneecapping yourself at the starting line."

Lobbyists say they have repeatedly urged officials to "tread carefully" because U.S. demand is surging while domestic chip capacity remains far too limited. The industry argues that factories take years to build and current domestic production cannot come close to satisfying demand.

One tech representative said "the math literally just does not work," noting that proposed duty-free allowances "wouldn't cover the hyperscalers alone." Meanwhile, the Computer and Communications Industry Association warned that higher costs and uncertainty could put the massive data-center buildout "in jeopardy."

US Considers Fresh Round of Tariffs On Semiconductors More | Reply

US Considers Fresh Round of Tariffs On Semiconductors

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  • Single dumbest way? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28, 2026 @11:05AM (#66311298)
    I believe this administration has not yet found bottom in their dig into stupid.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cpurdy ( 4838085 )
      We keep underestimating their determination in this regard, and they keep surprising us with their digging skills.

    • Re:Single dumbest way? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Friday August 28, 2026 @11:52AM (#66311390) Homepage Journal

      I'm struggling to understand the logic, even from a MAGA perspective. How does making tech more expensive for US companies help them compete against Chinese companies?

      • Re:Single dumbest way? (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Voice of satan ( 1553177 ) on Friday August 28, 2026 @12:10PM (#66311422)

        There is no logic.

        Trump is genuinely a retard. It is not just that we don't like his societal choices or his morality. He is really that dumb. He made clear he believes tariffs is some tax the exporters pay themselves.

        Also, the tech stocks will crater, Barron Trump will buy the dip and then the orang-outang will cancel the tariffs and Barron will make tons of money.

        • Because he is not (currently) a dictator, he can't make his own laws. He's limited in what he can do.

          Tariffs are one of the few things in which he is mostly able to do unilaterally. When all you've got is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by teg ( 97890 )

            Because he is not (currently) a dictator, he can't make his own laws. He's limited in what he can do.

            Tariffs are one of the few things in which he is mostly able to do unilaterally. When all you've got is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

            To be fair, the Supreme Court judged that Trump does not have that authority [wikipedia.org]. The Supreme Court that has enough corrupt members that his executive order trying to annul the fourteenth amendment was struck down just 6-3 rather than the obvious 9-0 with a comment describing how to actually change the constitution.

        • Trump is genuinely a retard. It is not just that we don't like his societal choices or his morality. He is really that dumb.

          While I certainly don't think he's a genius, I think holding the world's largest economy hostage to personally enrich himself and his family in schemes that take a lot of effort to prove requires at least a moderate level of intelligence. And a far greater degree of evil.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hey! ( 33014 )

        The logic is economic autarky -- the belief that we're always better off having complete political sovereignty over every part of our supply chains than having to depend on imports for anything.

        This is likely also behind Trump's trade war with Canada. His demands with Canada aren't about discirimatory tariffs -- those were negotiated away with NAFTA then re-negotiated in his first term. His demands are now infringe on Canadian sovereignty, to give US control of Canada's external trade policy, and even on

    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      A tariff is a way of punishing Canada

      ...by raising prices on Americans.

    • It's not just this administration. This is who roughly half the country is. You have relatives and neighbors who voted for this, and would vote for it again tomorrow if given the opportunity.
      • You don't have to agree with someone 100% to vote for them. I don't support these tariffs. They aren't helping. But if you agree with one candidate on 80% of stuff, and the other on 5%, who to vote for is clear.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by logjon ( 1411219 )
          If you agree with 80% of what any Republican has done since the Civil Rights Act realigned the parties, you're exactly what I'm talking about, and you can fuck yourself.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by ChatHuant ( 801522 )

          if you agree with one candidate on 80% of stuff, and the other on 5%, who to vote for is clear.

          If you agree with Trump on 80% of what he's doing I feel genuinely sorry for you.

          • Why feel sorry for people who are arseholes and proud of it?

            • Why feel sorry for people who are arseholes and proud of it?

              In this case it's more than just being arseholes, though this is part of it. I feel sorry for them because they have a tarnished soul.

              • I think Darlene Graham epitomizes the republican attitude for the poor. https://newrepublic.com/post/2... [newrepublic.com] "I have a different background and vision for our state. My parents worked long, hard hours just to make ends meet. We didn’t take vacations. If they were sick, they had to get up and go to work because if the doors weren’t open, we weren’t making money. My mother passed away when I was 11, and my father just over a year later."

                Her belief is work hard and die young to avoid the govern

    • It's not stupid if chaos and destruction are the goals. It's only evil.

      • Agreed. My biggest problems with Hanlon's Razor is that all it takes to get away with largescale evil is to convince the majority of people you're a colossal idiot. Trump has simultaneously managed to convince the followers of his cult that he's a genius while convincing the rest of the world that he's an idiot.
  • We all saw what happened the first time around, and a majority thought, "Let's do this again! Better this than some woman who laughs funny."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      To be fair, I was also curious what Trump would do when he didn't have to worry about reelection or, indeed, living much past the end of his term. Curious in the way you see the edge of a cliff and wonder what it would be like to jump off.

      • To be fair, I was also curious what Trump would do when he didn't have to worry about reelection or, indeed, living much past the end of his term. Curious in the way you see the edge of a cliff and wonder what it would be like to jump off.

        For example, threaten to demolish [npr.org] the Kennedy Center if he can't add his name to it.

        • Re:Idiocracy (Score:4, Insightful)

          by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 ) on Friday August 28, 2026 @12:23PM (#66311442)

          To be fair, I was also curious what Trump would do when he didn't have to worry about reelection or, indeed, living much past the end of his term. Curious in the way you see the edge of a cliff and wonder what it would be like to jump off.

          For example, threaten to demolish [npr.org] the Kennedy Center if he can't add his name to it.

          Or this, so childish. Trump to skip 9/11 remembrance at Ground Zero because they wouldn’t let him give a speech [independent.co.uk]

          The 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City does not allow politicians to speak at Ground Zero to maintain a nonpartisan stance.

          The president had initially intended to join former presidents and other officials in Manhattan on September 11, but those plans were changed after memorial planners seemingly reminded Trump’s team that politicians are barred from speaking at the site to maintain its nonpartisan stance, the New York Times reported.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by znrt ( 2424692 )

      a priori this seems different; they say: still in the early phases and subject to significant changes over the next few months, will be introduced via a staggered rollout period. that doesn't even remotely sound like trump's usual reckless and impulsive acting out (maybe he isn't even involved in this?) and could mean a cautious and sensible approach to promoting us semiconductor industry, which isn't a bad idea if it is supported by further policies and investments. tariffs alone will ofc do little, except

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by fahrbot-bot ( 874524 )

      We all saw what happened the first time around, and a majority thought, "Let's do this again! Better this than some woman who laughs funny."

      Well... "majority" means more than half and Trump only got 49.8% (77,302,580) of the popular vote and Harris got 48.3% (75,017,613). An estimated 36% (89 million) eligible voters didn't even vote - so only about 64% of eligible voters actually voted. This means that Trump only got about 31% of all eligible votes. More people didn't vote than voted for either individual candidate. So it's more like tyranny of the more motivated minority. Voting matters people. Also, my personal feeling is that if you

      • Except that your vote only counts if you live in a purple county in a purple state (or one of the tiny handful that split electors). Your vote almost always matters in local elections, often in state, and maybe Congress (though politicians on both sides are gerrymandering things to prevent that), but the fraction of eligible voters in the US whose vote can possibly affect the outcome of a presidential election is far lower than 64%. US voters are responsible for Trump, not because of one election, but becau
        • This may be true, and I live in a red state so certainly agree. BUT it is your civic responsibility to vote. Full stop. There really should be a small penalty for not doing so, say 10 buck on your tax return. And I'll add there should be an enormous penalty to states that do not enable easy voting for everyone. Like you lose your federal funding for roads & bridges. And to make voting easier, it is minimum 2 day event, one of which is a saturday.
          • It needs to be made a national holiday. Just making it Saturday benefits nine-to-fivers over lower-income voters who are more likely to be working Saturdays due to multiple jobs or customer-service oriented jobs.

            As for mandatory voting, I fail to see how getting more uneducated voters into voting boxes helps anything. Not uneducated in terms of schooling, but uneducated about what they're actually voting on. Anyone who is only voting because they are forced to is not going to spend the time to learn abou

      • Also, my personal feeling is that if you don't vote, you don't get to complain.

        If we used the popular vote, then I'd be more amenable to this mindset. Personally, I skipped the top of the ticket because I don't live in one of the 43 states that mattered.

  • Trump's reply (Score:3)

    by PPH ( 736903 ) on Friday August 28, 2026 @11:16AM (#66311306)

    One tech representative said "the math literally just does not work,"

    "It was my understanding that there would be no math."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      Probably also what the MAGA morons thought. And no physical reality either. Well, guess what ...

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by ArchieBunker ( 132337 )

        He told them other countries would pay for the tariffs. I learned what a tariff was back in 6th grade.

        But belonging to a cult will do that to a person.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by gweihir ( 88907 )

          To be fair, tariffs are not math or science. They are business. But anybody with a reasonable education that they actually benefitted from (!) knows that tariffs are paid by the one importing stuff because "tariff" happens to mean the same as "import tax". And for bonus points, some people will even know that export taxes are paid to the country things come from, not the country things get shipped to. Not that this advanced and complex knowledge is needed to understand what is going on.

          But yes, being in a c

        • Since I have offended a cult member by stating facts, I shall give citations.

          https://archive.ph/Eth0K#selec... [archive.ph]

          “No, I’m going to impose a tariff on the outside world, and they’re going to pay it for their privilege of coming in and robbing our jobs and robbing our companies for years and years.”

          He added: “The most beautiful word is the word tariff because it’s going to make us so rich, and we’re going to save our companies.”

  • American's #1 issue these days: Affordability.

    The solution? Add another "Tax" on things.

    "Slow clap" great job

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      To be fair, he is still making himself richer and he is still not in prison. That is impressive, but not in any good way.

    • American's #1 issue these days: Affordability.

      The solution? Add another "Tax" on things.

      Well... Trump (still) says "affordability" is a hoax and foreign companies and countries pay the tariffs. The first is demonstrably wrong (just go buy food, gas...), the second is literally wrong (just look it up). He keeps pushing this and his followers keep going along with it. Boggles the mind. The Wharton School must be re-thinking the degree they gave Trump, 'cause it doesn't seem like he earned it...

  • It looks like Comrade Trump just now chose the "no more datacenters!" team. His punitive taxes are one of the best tools we have to sanction the US economy, keeping growth down and inflation up.

    I used to think Comrade Trump's Greenpeace membership was a sham, but over the last year he's proven himself to be a true believer that American industries all need to be shut down. First America, then The World! It's time humanity went back to hunting and gathering. FUCK FARMERS!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      That will last exactly until the mid-term votes are cast. He is getting desperate and trying anything now.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by evanh ( 627108 )

        It'll last until next news cycle.

      • He doesn't care at all about the midterms because he and Mike Johnson have absolutely no plans to swear in the newly elected Democrats if they lose the majority in the election (which they most certainly will). If we thought things were interesting now, they're about to get far more interesting in a few months.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cpurdy ( 4838085 )
      I find your lack of faith (in our lard and sader donald trump) disturbing

  • Please get a new idea (Score:5, Informative)

    by jacks smirking reven ( 909048 ) on Friday August 28, 2026 @11:32AM (#66311344)

    Ironically for Republicans the only economic tool they seems to capable of using these days is taxes, taxes and more taxes.

    And yet since 2000 it turns out that the Bush and Trump tax cuts are going to end up responsible for nearly 50% of US debt [ms.now] and Trump himself may end up responsible for 25% of all US debt. Let that sink in and accept the fact that when Republicans tell you they want balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility they are lying to your face.

    • That was obvious when they got behind person who managed to bankrupt a casino.
    • Conversely, 100% of US debt is the result of spending too much. Congress can fix that but doesn't seem to have the stones to do it.

      • We can say that but the public seems to disagree as they don't like services being cut and Republicans don't seem to want to cut anything meaningful and they also love subsidies and Federal spending and we can't say it's wasteful spending because we've had multiple Republican admins, Congess majorities and the glorious DOGE and no huge waste has ever been uncovered so seems like we're left with one option: raise revenues.

        Conservatives love comparing the US economy with a home economy so if you had the optio

  • WTF is he doing? He's like actively trying to destroy the US!

    • He does whatever Stephen Miller whispers into his ear. He's nothing more than the useful idiot cult leader.

    • Yes he does.

      He has been chosen by the Soviets in hope he could be used to cripple the USA. He is not the only one. They threw a lot of things to the wall and looked what stuck. The Russians are not playing 4D chess, it just turns out Trump is their most efficient asset.

      Well described here: https://desk-russie.info/2025/... [desk-russie.info]

    • No, he's not actively trying to destroy the US. His actions are meant to enrich himself. To a sociopath such as he the destruction of an entire nation is of no consequence as long as the money keeps coming to him.

      The US is being destroyed by his apathy, not malice.

  • China is probably very happy with this development.

    Good way to kneecap all your industries in one go. Pretty much every new modern microwave to your TV to your automobile have at least 1 or more chips in them.

    Only things which may not have a chip are things which dont use power. Maybe your bed (assuming not one of the "smart beds"), chair, baseball bat, etc.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by methano ( 519830 )
      You know, even though about a third of American seem to think so, I don't think the Chinese are pulling for the failure of America. The only people really working for the failure of America are those MAGA morons who back this garbage.
      • I think probably true at least not in the short term. Their treasury holdings would take a huge hit. I don't expect the Chinese are as stupid as donald. They don't seem to kneecap themselves. I will say they appear to see the writing on the wall and have reduced their holdings and expect them to continue in a measured way to maximize the value.

  • History has shown this ends poorly.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

  • They're talking about it openly if you're listening but you have to really be listening.

    Basically they want to create a national sales tax because that puts the tax burden for paying for the military and the police and everything onto people who spend most of their income buying things. That's you.

    So this is just a way to make you the working Man pay the taxes for the people who own things for a living instead of working for a living.

    The idea that we have people who own things for a living in ou
  • It was a bunch of finance Bros and tech Bros jacking up the prices on everything you buy to the point where you can't afford video gaming anymore.

    Right now we're just barely able to skate by because there's a glut of old hardware floating around that could be sold for cheap. Like how Sega mega drives are available in third world countries these days.

    In a few more years that's basically where we're going to be at. Video gaming will be a luxury like it was in the early '70s. And you certainly won't be

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jsepeta ( 412566 )

      $900 transparent XBox, sells out immediately, zero improvements over existing opaque black plastic xbox.
      INSANITY

  • The GOP seems to think that Capitalism = mean to poor people, nice to rich people. No. Capitalism = Free market = no tariffs.

    Tariffs = Mercantilism.

    Capitalism hates Mercantilism. Capitalism was created because Mercantilism did not work, it was created as a replacement for it.

    The GOP is not and has not been capitalistic for quite some time.

    • I have a suspicion that this is an ill-conceived response to China's Mercantilist approach. At least on the surface, it looks to be working for them, so we should do it to? Right?

      Well, no. We got where we are by not doing it that way. Plus, our political system doesn't work with it.

      This is not a GOP thing, it's a Trump populist thing. The party is not pleased. There are a lot of members in Congress that are screaming at him every day. I also think it's a mistake. I was fine with it when it was

  • Next thing you know duty-free won't be duty-free anymore.

  • If you wanted to actually have happy citizens the tariff would only be on parts used in a data center. Maybe then us poor retail customers could find a part for ourselves.
    • The datacenters don't care as much. We need Nvidia to remember which customers made them what they are now, and sell some damn RTX's at a reasonable damn price. In 2020, they released GPUs altered to suck at crypto mining so that there would be some supply for everyone else. I'd like them to think about that again.

      But they don't make memory, and that's the real killer right now. And the datacenters have already bought it all.

    • You are confusing two different things. Chip makers don't care WHO buys the chips, just who will spend the most on those chips. It's all the same to them. Right now, datacenters will pay much more for the same silicon then a consumer will. Chip makers responded buy focusing their production on higher value chips. Since there are only a few chip makers, we're screwed as consumers.

      Whenever the chip makers decide to rebalance production to consumer gear, we'll still be sitting here waiting to buy. It's a great

  • First President to completely send the US economy into freefall TWICE. We should make him drink from the firehose.

    • I can't stand Donald Trump (just look at all of my other posts on this story), but I don't think we can blame him for the first economic freefall - the effects of a pandemic are going to crush any economy. And he signed the CARES Act which was sponsored by a majority Democratic House. He certainly screwed up handling the health and safety aspects of the pandemic, but I'm not sure the Dems would have been able to ease the economic sting much more than what was already done.

      However, the current economic

  • Take the thing we have barely the capacity to produce, almost all industries in the US depend on, and make it more expensive. Should help the economy.

  • By making it harder for US companies to use AI, how does that harm China? Already, businesses are feeling the squeeze. I'm just wondering if this is regulatory capture on a higher level, ensuring the squeezes on hardware prices by US vendors can't be fixed by other countries.

    Already, the RAM and SSD price hikes are not affecting other countries nearly as much as the US.

  • And we will keep shooting ourselves in the foot until the situation improves.

  • Might the logic behind this be this?: RAM is expensive. Storage is expensive. Nobody's going to buy a computer anyway, so you might as well make the other components more expensive too.

    It even goes with Trump's more general agenda to make everything more expensive.

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