The White House is reportedly considering another round of tariffs on semiconductors, and this time the fees could reach much further than the chips themselves.
According to a Politico report, the possible tariffs would apply to servers, laptops, and gaming hardware. Eight people with knowledge of the matter shared the details, though nothing has been finalized yet.
The idea of chip tariffs is not new. Tariffs on Chinese semiconductors were originally put in place under the previous administration, and last year Trump said he would introduce new chip tariffs, but those plans never materialized.
Now the administration appears to be taking another swing at it. Last year Trump described a plan for duties of "approximately 100%" on imported chips, while saying U.S.-based manufacturers would get an exemption.
That structure is designed to push manufacturers to bring production back to American soil. The White House made that goal clear in a statement to Politico, saying, "Reshoring semiconductor manufacturing is a top priority for President Trump, whose policies have already secured hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in this key sector."
There is a wrinkle in the plan, though. Chinese firms have reportedly obtained advanced chips despite U.S. export restrictions, and experts say Chinese AI models are advancing because they can access powerful computing through overseas cloud data centers.
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In other words, restricting chips from crossing the border only goes so far if the computing power itself can be rented remotely. New U.S. legislation is being discussed to close that loophole, but it faces hurdles in Congress.
Select AI chips have faced a 25% duty since January, so any new tariffs would stack on top of that cost. That could raise expenses for companies that rely on imported hardware.
What does this mean? If these tariffs go through, the price of servers, laptops, and gaming hardware could climb, and the ripple effect would touch anyone who buys tech products or owns stock in companies that make them.
The big question is whether the carve-out for domestic manufacturing will actually work. The administration is betting that a tariff of approximately 100%, paired with a waiver, will be enough to convince companies to build in the U.S. rather than pay the fee.
For investors, the key signal is whether the legislation to close the cloud loophole gains traction. If it does, the pressure on Chinese AI development increases, but so does the complexity for U.S. companies that operate globally.
These tariff discussions come amid a wider push by the administration to secure domestic supply chains for critical technology. The semiconductor industry has long been concentrated in a handful of Asian markets, and policymakers have grown increasingly concerned about relying on foreign suppliers for components that power everything from smartphones to military systems. A move toward higher tariffs is one of several tools the government has used to pressure companies to shift production, alongside subsidies and export controls.
The situation is still developing, and nothing has been announced officially. But the fact that this is being discussed at all suggests the administration sees tariffs as a central tool in its semiconductor strategy - and the costs could land on your next laptop purchase.
