Taiwanese chipmaking big TSMC “is exempt” from U.S. President Donald Trump’s 100% tariff on semiconductor chips, Taipei mentioned Thursday.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm is the world’s largest contract maker of chips and counts Nvidia and Apple amongst its purchasers.
“As a result of Taiwan’s fundamental exporter is TSMC, which has factories in the USA, TSMC is exempt,” Nationwide Growth Council chief Liu Chin-ching informed a briefing in parliament.
Some Taiwanese chipmakers “shall be affected” by the 100% tariff, however their opponents can even face the identical levy, Liu mentioned.
“Taiwan at present holds a number one place on the planet and I imagine that if the chief and opponents are on the identical beginning line, the chief will proceed to guide,” Liu mentioned.
“That is our present preliminary evaluation, however we are going to proceed to look at and suggest short-term and medium-term help.”
Liu was talking hours after Trump mentioned on the White Home that “we’re going to be placing a really massive tariff on chips and semiconductors”.
The extent could be “100%”, Trump informed reporters, though he didn’t supply a timetable for when the brand new levy could be enacted.
Trump mentioned firms that have been “constructing in the USA, or have dedicated to construct” wouldn’t be charged.
Taiwan is a worldwide powerhouse in semiconductor manufacturing, with greater than half of the world’s chips and practically all the high-end ones made there.
TSMC has been within the crosshairs of Trump, who has accused Taiwan of stealing the U.S. chip business.
There had been hopes TSMC’s plan to speculate an extra $100 billion in the USA would protect Taiwan from new tariffs.
Taiwan has additionally pledged to extend funding in the USA, buy extra U.S. power and enhance protection spending to greater than three % of GDP in a bid to go off Trump’s levies.
Trump has imposed a short lived 20% tariff on Taiwan, excluding semiconductors, as U.S. and Taiwanese negotiators attempt to thrash out a deal.
