World War Fee The United States will impose tariffs on semiconductors imported from China, starting in 2027.

News of the plan emerged in a Notice of Action [PDF] signed by Jennifer Thornton, General Counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, which posted the document on Monday.

The Notice is the result of an investigation into China’s semiconductor industry that the Biden administration commenced in December 2024, and which focused on “foundational semiconductors (also known as legacy or mature node semiconductors)," and their presence in critical industries like defense, automotive, medical devices, aerospace, telecommunications, and the electrical grid.

The investigation found, “For decades, China has targeted the semiconductor industry for dominance and has employed increasingly aggressive and sweeping non-market policies and practices in pursuing dominance of the sector.” Those practices, the document concludes, “severely disadvantaged U.S. companies, workers, and the U.S. economy generally.”

The Notice therefore concludes that tariffs on Chinese chips are appropriate, but not urgent because the document sets them at zero percent until mid-2027.

The US will increase tariffs on June 23rd, 2027, and will decide the rate of that impost no fewer than 30 days before the aforementioned date.

Also on Monday, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer penned an opinion piece arguing that tariffs are a tool that brings trading partners to the negotiating table to discuss investments that help the Trump administration pursue its goal of re-industrializing America.

The administration has therefore given Chinese chipmakers time to contemplate whether they want to open for business in the USA.

Similar negotiating tactics and incentives offered under the CHIPS Act have already seen foreign chipmakers such as TSMC and Samsung make massive investments in manufacturing on US soil, and Intel resolve to build factories at home instead of offshore.

• US PC shipments hit the buffers as Trump’s tariffs take their toll
• Transatlantic chip war fizzles as EU and US framework confirms 15% tariff cap
• US lowers tariffs on major tech exporting nations - but buyers will still pay more
• India gets its turn on the Trump tariff train: 25% levy to start Friday

In remarks made in January and August, President Trump suggested imported semiconductors could attract tariffs of “25, 50 or even 100 percent.”

Levies at that level are nowhere to be found in this week’s announcements. ®