CREDIT: CHIP SOMODEVILLA VIA GETTY IMAGES
Former US President
Joe Biden could introduce a“ 25 % or higher” tariff across all semiconductor chips the US imports.
The news sent shockwaves through international trade, particularly as Trump suggested the tariffs would“ go substantially higher over a course of a year,” he said, adding he would allow time for the affected companies to bring their factories to the US.
“ We want to give them a little bit of a chance,” he said.
Tariffs of this scale could have an immense impact on the AI and data centre industries around the world and result in higher prices for customers and increased costs for businesses.
For leading chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company( TMSC) and NVIDIA, rising tariffs pose multiple difficulties – mostly because their manufacturing facilities are in Asia. The technology industry very much relies on these sites to build the electronics Americans are used to.
The threats of tariffs prompted Trump and TSMC to announce a US $ 100bn plan to build five new US factories in March, in a move that Trump said meant TSMC would avoid the industry-wide 25 % tariffs.
For the hyperscalers, price increases could mean they would have to pay more to grow their data centres in their pursuit of AI innovation.
datacentremagazine. com 103