Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed a 25% tariff on certain AI chips, such as the Nvidia H200 AI processor and a similar semiconductor from AMD called the MI325X, under a new national security order issued by the White House.
The proclamation is as follows: nine month investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and targets for import tariffs a number of high-end semiconductors and those devices that meet certain performance standards. The action is part of a broader effort to create incentives for chipmakers to produce more semiconductors in the U.S. and reduce reliance on chipmakers in places like Taiwan.
“The United States currently manufactures only about 10 percent of the chips it needs, making it highly dependent on foreign supply chains,” the proclamation said, adding that dependence was a “significant economic and national security risk.”
The White House said in a fact sheet that the tariffs would be narrowly focused and would not apply to imported chips and derivative devices for U.S. datacenters — a large consumer of AI chips — including startups, non-datacenter consumer applications, non-datacenter civilian industrial applications and U.S. public sector applications.
According to the proclamation, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has broad discretion to implement further exemptions.
Shares of Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm were trading slightly lower in after-hours trading.
Trump said in December he would impose tariffs on Chinese semiconductor imports because of Beijing’s “unfair” attempt to dominate the chip industry, but he delayed action until June 2027.
This step was taken after a year-long “Section 301”. Investigation of unfair trade practices China’s export of “legacy” or old-technology chips to the US, which was initiated by the administration of former President Joe Biden.
Questions were swirling about the universe of chip products that would be affected by the tariffs, tariff rates, and whether any countries, products or companies would be exempt. Wednesday’s announcement, along with the December news, suggests a light touch from the administration on chip imports for now.
Trump announced last year That will allow Nvidia to sell H200 chips In exchange for a cut in sales of those chips to China. Legal experts questioned Would such a system violate the US Constitution’s prohibition on imposing taxes on exports?
trump administration required this week Chips bound for China take a detour from Taiwan, where they are made, via the United States for testing by a third-party laboratory. When the chips enter the United States, they are subject to a 25% tariff announced on Wednesday.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We comply with all US export control laws and policies,” AMD said in a statement.
Trump has deployed a series of tariffs aimed at boosting U.S. manufacturing, announcing sweeping new import tariffs in September, including a 100% duty on branded drugs and a 25% levy on heavy-duty trucks, triggering fresh trade uncertainty after a period of relative calm.
In April, the Trump administration announced an investigation into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors in a bid to impose tariffs on them, arguing that their widespread reliance on foreign production poses a national security threat.
While American companies such as Nvidia, AMD, and Intel design many of the most widely used chips, most of which are made overseas, many by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the Semiconductor Industry Association also could not immediately be reached.
According to the fact sheet, in the near future Trump may also impose comprehensive tariffs on imports of semiconductors and their derivative products to encourage domestic manufacturing.
The annex to the order clarifies that any 25% tariffs imposed on semiconductors under the order will not be imposed on top of other tariffs imposed by the Trump administration under other Section 232 orders. They will be exempted from tariffs on copper, aluminum and steel, auto and truck parts.
