Semiconductors left in Trump's trade purgatory as new US tariffs on Taiwan set at 20%

US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 2, 2025.

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

If you're anyone other than President Donald Trump, there's a good chance you're sick of the word tariff. I know I am. Well, sorry to be the bearer of bad news (and words) because, on July 31, an executive order was signed to impose 'reciprocal tariffs' on a whole host of countries. Though Malaysian pharmaceuticals and semiconductors are exempt, the same has not been announced for Taiwan, which produces much of the world's semiconductor supply.

In an executive order entitled "Further modifying the reciprocal tariff rates", Donald Trump announces an amendment to Executive Order 14257, which was signed on April 2, 2025. Citing these original tariffs, the executive order says, "I found that conditions reflected in large and persistent annual U.S. goods trade deficits constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States". It continues: "I declared a national emergency with respect to that threat".

The justification for said reciprocal tariffs is the "continued lack of reciprocity in our bilateral trade relationships and the impact of foreign trading partners’ disparate tariff rates."

Chine-te says this is provisional as a final meeting between the two countries is yet to happen. The goal of further meetings is to get a different rate for chips. This means that, though no exception for semiconductors was announced outright, there's a potential we could see one, as we did with the original tariffs back in April.

Computer chips are in a bit of an awkward situation forward to as some have previously been exempt, but Donald Trump also said just last week that there's a possibility of higher tariffs on semiconductors manufactured outside of the US.

The US's tariffs are intended to penalise those relying on imported goods and therefore incentivise production within the country. However, Trump has gone back and forth constantly over the last few months on which tariffs will be hitting which countries, at what rate they will hit, and what the exemptions will be. Previous tariff announcements left PC Hardware manufacturers in a strange spot, where many of them had to pause shipments or shift production.

TSMC and Samsung are both building new chip fabrication and packaging facilities in America, with TSMC currently producing 4-nanometer chips in Arizona. TSMC plans on adding three fabrication plants and two advanced packaging facilities, and Samsung's Taylor fab is due to be operational in the future. Samsung does currently run a mature node fab out of Austin. Even with more fabs operational, higher demands make it unlikely that American production can account for all demand. Either way, it seems likely this will result in higher costs for PC gaming hardware enthusiasts if exemptions aren't made.

Best gaming rigs 2025

👉Check out our list of guides👈

1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16

2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L

3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed.

4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT

5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3

TOPICS

James is a more recent PC gaming convert, often admiring graphics cards, cases, and motherboards from afar. It was not until 2019, after just finishing a degree in law and media, that they decided to throw out the last few years of education, build their PC, and start writing about gaming instead. In that time, he has covered the latest doodads, contraptions, and gismos, and loved every second of it. Hey, it’s better than writing case briefs.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.