Trump to impose 25% tariff on high-performance AI chips starting on the 15th

US President Donald Trump has ordered a 25% tariff on certain advanced semiconductors that do not contribute to building the US technology supply chain and strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities.

According to the White House on the 14th (local time), President Trump signed a proclamation to that effect that day under the Trade Expansion Act. The move follows a national security threat assessment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. The stated aim is to protect and foster the US semiconductor industry. The proclamation will apply to goods entered for consumption or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption starting at 12:01 a.m. on the 15th, which is 2:01 p.m. Korea time on the 15th.

In the proclamation, President Trump said it was "necessary and appropriate to immediately impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on imports of the products" if "imports of certain advanced computing semiconductors and derivative products specified in the annex do not contribute to building the US technology supply chain and strengthening domestic manufacturing capacity for semiconductor derivative products."

However, it does not apply to all imported semiconductors. The White House said chips imported for the purpose of strengthening the domestic technology supply chain—such as building data centers in the US, research and development, and support for startups—or boosting domestic production capacity for semiconductor-derived products will be exempt from the tariffs.

The move is seen as intended to prevent technology leakage to rival countries while ensuring there is no disruption in securing semiconductors needed to develop the domestic technology ecosystem.

US media report that the measure is intended to allow Nvidia to sell its H200 artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor to China.

Meanwhile, the step could also affect Korean chipmakers such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix.

Lee Song-ryeol, Hankyung.com reporter yisr0203@hankyung.com