Aug 27 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is considering a new round of sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, Politico reported on Thursday citing eight people familiar with discussions.
A new tariff proposal could tax a wider range of tech goods. Instead of just targeting microchips, the duties would also apply to products that use them, such as laptops, gaming consoles, and data center servers, the report said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick favors a structure that will tie foreign companies’ relief from the tariffs to investment in U.S. chip manufacturing to boost local production, the report said.
Washington is also mulling a phase-in period for the new tariffs and the framework could still be substantially revised in the coming weeks or months, Politico reported.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
“Reshoring critical manufacturing back to the United States is a top priority for President Trump, and the Administration has implemented a nimble, nuanced, and multi-faceted approach to drive trillions in voluntary investments in key sectors,” a White House official said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
“Unless officially announced by the Administration, any reporting about tariffs should be regarded as baseless speculation,” the official added.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in May there were no imminent new U.S. tariffs expected to be imposed on semiconductors, but that it was important to protect the sector with duties to facilitate reshoring of chip production.
(Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Anusha Shah in BengaluruEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Franklin Paul)
