U.S. President Donald Trump (R) speaks as Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick looks on before signing an executive order restricting mail-in voting in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2026 in Washington, DC.
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US President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly considering new tariffs on US semiconductors as technology giants race to beat China in building AI infrastructure.
The tariffs would be imposed on a wide range of high-tech products manufactured alongside chips, including laptops, data center servers and gaming hardware, eight people familiar with the matter told Politico in a report published Thursday.
The report said the measures are still in their early stages and are likely to change significantly in the coming months, and will be introduced in stages.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment, but told Politico, “Reviving semiconductor manufacturing is a top priority for President Trump, and his policies have already secured hundreds of billions of dollars in investment in this key area.”
Existing tariffs on Chinese semiconductors were introduced under the administration of US President Joe Biden.
President Trump said last year that he would announce new tariffs on semiconductors and chips, but the measures never materialized. The president also said he would impose “nearly 100%” tariffs on semiconductors and chips, but not on companies that build domestically.
In January, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on certain AI chips.
Chinese companies reportedly had access to Nvidia’s chips despite strict U.S. export controls. Industry watchers say access to advanced computing through overseas cloud providers is a key factor for China’s AI models to gain capabilities.
A U.S. bill is being discussed to close the loophole, but hurdles remain to making an impact, experts previously told CNBC.
—CNBC’s Kai Nicol-Schwarz contributed to this report.
