Taiwan Chip Design Firm Seeks U S Supply Amid Trump’s 100% Semiconductor Tariff Threats

Описание: An owner of a chip design firm on Thursday (August 7) said his company is planning to purchase from the U.S.-based supplier to mitigate cost after President Donald Trump said the U.S. will impose a tariff of about 100 percent on imports of semiconductors.
Kneron, a San Diego-based AI chip innovator, purchased chip supply from the world’s biggest contract chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), its founder Albert Liu told Reuters in Taipei.
Liu said he will shift some of its orders to TSMC U.S. factories following the announcement.
Trump said a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors will be imposed, but offered up a big exemption - it will not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the U.S. or have committed to do so.
Taiwanese chip contract manufacturer TSMC is expected to be relatively unscathed as it has U.S. factories, so key customers such as Nvidia are unlikely to face increased tariff costs for U.S-made chips.
The move is part of Trump's efforts to bring manufacturing back to the United States, and his remarks on Wednesday (August 6) were made in tandem with an announcement that Apple would be investing an additional $100 billion in its home market.
Liu cautioned that the U.S. lacks a mature semiconductor supply chain like Taiwan's and emphasized the need to monitor whether the next US president will continue the tariff policy.
While Liu believes his company’s NPU (Neutral Processing Unit) could benefit from tariffs policy as buyers may look for cheaper options to run their advanced AI products, he thinks a safer option is to diversify client base.
At least 25 percent of Kneron’s customers are from the U.S, he said.
Trump's mention of the proposed 100% rate for chips came in just ahead of U.S. levies of 10% to 50% kicking in on Thursday for many goods from dozens of trading partners. Rates on semiconductors and other key tech goods have been the subject of a U.S. national security probe - the results of which are expected to be announced by mid-August.

SOURCE: REUTERS

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