Featured Image Credit: Christopher Furlong / Staff / Getty
US President Donald Trump's latest tariff move could prove to be catastrophic for a tech industry that still relies heavily on outside materials, as he revealed plans for a 100 percent import tax on one key item.
The financial world is still reeling from the effects of Trump's controversial 'Liberation Day' tariffs in early April, as seemingly every single country on Earth – including those with functionally zero inhabitants – were faced with a tax on imports into the United States.
This immediately caused prices for a lot of consumer goods to skyrocket as companies placed the burden on customers, and some horrific receipts have shown quite how much this has cost for businesses in the America.
One of the biggest areas of contention for the tariffs was technology, especially as Trump appeared to be pushing for major manufacturers like Apple to move their production to home soil, and his latest move might be another effort to achieve that.
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As reported by the Daily Mail, President Trump announced during a recent White House meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook that he will be imposing a 100% tariff on computer chips imported into the United States.
These chips and equivalent silicon are not only some of the most imported goods into the United States, but also some of the most valuable that would see a significant price bump as a consequence of this move.
This contradict's Trump's previous efforts to exempt most electronics from the aforementioned widespread tariffs, and it's clear that this comes as a power play to force major companies to move manufacturing chains to the United States.
Trump also outlined that companies that make computer chips inside the United States would be spared this import tax, although that's certainly a task that's easier said than done.
Some of the biggest companies like Apple have already committed to efforts that would see chips and other components manufactured in the US, but that also could also affect the cost of goods as labor prices are generally higher in America.
Previous estimates for US-made iPhones saw the price reach into the thousands of dollars, so many are right to wonder whether this move would also bump the price up either way.
Investors appear to have confidence that these tariffs won't affect companies like Apple and Nvidia too much at the very least, as the former has seen stock price bumps of 5% and 3% across the last few days, with the latter also climbing ever so slightly.
Chip manufactures like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel have seen similar boosts, which is significant especially for the latter who has struggled across the last year with dwindling valuations.
