Trump administration reportedly considering ‘new round of sweeping tariffs on semiconductors’ – as it happened

The Trump administration is reportedly considering a new round of sweeping tariffs on semiconductors – despite warnings from technology companies that the move could harm US hopes of dominating artificial intelligence.

One tariff approach under consideration would dramatically expand the number of tech products subject to the duties, hitting not just chips but potentially many of the goods made with them, such as laptops, gaming consoles or the servers that fill data centres, Politico reported on Thursday, citing eight people familiar with discussions .

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick favours a structure that would tie foreign companies’ relief from the tariffs to investment in US chip manufacturing to fuel more domestic production, according to four of the people, Politico said.

The administration is mulling a phase-in period for the new tariffs, the four people said. They added that the framework could still be substantially revised in the coming weeks or months.