- The US government is considering new tariffs not only on foreign chips but also on consumer electronics like laptops, gaming consoles, and, presumably, smartphones with those chips.
- Relief may be offered to foreign companies investing in US manufacturing, but constructing facilities takes years, so there may not be room for immediate price relief.
- Combined with rising costs from AI-driven demand for RAM and storage, these tariffs could soon drive retail prices even higher than current levels.
The US government is weighing a sweeping new round of tariffs on semiconductors and finished consumer electronics, a move that could significantly drive up the cost of smartphones, smartwatches, earbuds, and practically everything else with a chip in it. While previous trade disputes and import duties have created headaches for retailers, prompting fallout such as Amazon issuing US tariff refunds to affected shoppers, this new potential move goes much deeper, targeting the core component that powers practically all modern hardware.
According to a report from Politico, the proposed tariff structure under consideration by the Trump administration would dramatically widen the scope of previous duties. Instead of targeting only standalone chips, the administration is exploring duties that apply directly to consumer devices manufactured with those chips. The report names laptops and gaming consoles as potentially affected, but depending on how the rules are framed, this could also affect phones and accessories.