President Donald Trump said Tuesday he will unveil new tariffs on semiconductors and chips as soon as next week.
“We’re going to be announcing on semiconductors and chips, which is a separate category, because we want them made in the United States,” Trump said during a lengthy interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Trump said that that announcement will come “within the next week or so.” He did not provide other details about the plan.
Global demand for semiconductors and microchips has skyrocketed as the technology has become integrated in virtually all sectors of the economy, including the booming artificial intelligence industry.
The vast majority of the world’s most advanced semiconductors come from Taiwan, home of major chipmaker TSMC, whose customers include Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm and AMD.
Trump revealed the tariff timeline days after he signed an executive order to impose new U.S. duties on a slew of countries’ imports, with some trading partners facing steep hikes. Taiwanese goods are set to face an updated tariff of 20% starting this week — though that is down from the 32% duty Trump had previously threatened as part of his April 2 “liberation day” levies.
Trump’s remarks on CNBC on Tuesday morning emphasized that his tariff plans are far from finished.
He said in the same appearance that tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals could eventually reach up to 250%. He had previously said that those tariffs would top out at 200%.
“I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had” because “people love the tariffs,” Trump claimed in the interview — even though his approval rating has dipped in multiple poll trackers’ latest updates.