(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Trump is pressing ahead with his plan to tariff foreign-made chips, including those from Taiwan, despite meeting with Nvidia’s CEO today.
“Eventually, we’re going to put tariffs on chips, we’re gonna put tariffs on oil and gas, that’ll happen fairly soon, I think around the 18th of February,” he said on Friday while signing a new batch of executive orders.
Trump had an afternoon meeting with Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, which uses chips from Taiwan’s TSMC to build graphics cards and AI-focused GPUs. "I can’t say what’s going to happen. We had a meeting. It was a good meeting,” Trump said before reiterating his plan to tariff foreign-manufactured semiconductors and “things associated with chips."
In addition, the Trump administration still plans to place a 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods, and a 10% tariff on Chinese-made products, starting on Feb. 1. In speaking with reporters, Trump added that there’s nothing the three countries can do to forestall the tariffs. That said, he plans on reducing the duties on Canadian crude oil to 10%.
The tariffs have sparked fears that manufacturers will pass on the added costs to consumers, resulting in price hikes. China and Mexico are home to numerous electronics factories for major vendors including Apple, Nvidia, Sony, LG, and Samsung, although the companies have been migrating their manufacturing to other countries such as Vietnam and India.
When asked about price hikes, Trump told reporters: “Tariffs don’t cause inflation, they cause success," adding "there could be some temporary, short term disruption, but people will understand that.”
Earlier this month, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) warned that tariffs risk driving down demand for PCs, smartphones, and consoles by more than 50%, while laptop and tablet prices could increase by 46% to 68%.
Trump is looking to drive tech companies to migrate their manufacturing to the US, although building semiconductor fabs can take years and require billions in investment. Currently, Apple, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and even Intel source chip supplies from TSMC, which still has much of its semiconductor production in Taiwan, despite building a new factory in Arizona.
Trump also suggested he might go after the European Union. "Am I going to impose tariffs on the European Union? Do you want the truthful answer or shall I give you a political answer? Absolutely," he said. "The European Union has treated us so terribly."