25% U.S. chip tariff

The United States has put a 25% tariff on certain semiconductors and related products, adding a new cost to some chip trade starting January 15, 2026. (cbp.gov) The measure stems from President Donald Trump’s January 14, 2026 proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, which lets a president restrict imports on national security grounds. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says the semiconductor tariff took effect the next day. (federalregister.gov) (cbp.gov) The proclamation covers semiconductors, chipmaking equipment and some products made with them, after the Commerce Department sent the White House a December 22, 2025 report saying imports in those categories threatened U.S. national security. The White House notice says the United States lacks enough domestic capacity to meet demand. (federalregister.gov) (whitehouse.gov) Semiconductors are the tiny processors and memory parts inside servers, phones, cars and weapons systems, so even a narrow tariff can hit a wide range of supply chains. The proclamation says chips are essential to all 16 U.S. critical infrastructure sectors, including communications and defense. (federalregister.gov) The practical problem for companies is that chip production is spread across Asia: design in one country, fabrication in another, packaging in a third, and final assembly somewhere else. McKinsey said in a 2025 industry analysis that semiconductor tariffs can ripple through electronics assembly because the sector depends on country-by-country and product-by-product supply chains. (mckinsey.com) U.S. Customs also lists carve-outs, including some semiconductors used in U.S. data centers, research and development, repairs and replacements, startup activity, public-sector uses, and some non-data-center consumer and industrial applications. That means the headline rate is 25%, but the actual bill depends on the chip’s technical specifications and end use. (cbp.gov) The tariff lands alongside a separate U.S. Section 301 case focused on what the Office of the United States Trade Representative calls China’s effort to dominate the semiconductor industry. USTR opened that investigation on December 23, 2024 and published a notice of action on December 29, 2025. (ustr.gov 1) (ustr.gov 2) That overlap leaves chipmakers and electronics manufacturers navigating two U.S. policy tracks at once: one framed as national security under Section 232, the other as an unfair-trade case under Section 301. CBP says it is enforcing both semiconductor Section 232 duties and China Section 301 trade remedies. (cbp.gov) (ustr.gov) In Britain, Parliament’s House of Commons Library said the January 2026 semiconductor measure adds to a more uncertain trade outlook and noted that future exemptions could still be negotiated in some cases. For companies moving chips through multiple Asian hubs before they reach China or the United States, that leaves the tariff as both a direct cost and a planning risk. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk)