Trump Announces 100% Tariff on Semiconductors, With Exemptions for Companies Building in the U.S.

[Shirasaki]

Doesn’t that feel like slavery? Would you work for two bucks an hour? Would you live in a compound that’s like a jail and you’re treated like a slave where your meager salary barely pays your living costs at the demanded facility? Why do you think they all have nets at the bottom of their compounds, why do you think that is? Because the workers lives are so terrible they want to jump. Apple, its supply chain is evil as it only focuses on shareholders profits not human rights or anything else. I would pay more for any product if it’s made with human workforce that is compensated and treated well. In the USA, people have rights - not many but some - they can leave the job and there’s a wage that offers something that’s more than like living in a jail cell as a slave working hard labor 14 hours per day to send a few hundred bucks to their families each month. There are many factors, but that one alone is enough that I looked elsewhere over 25 years ago as I didn’t want to fund China’s rise. It’s sad as the politicians didn’t stop it as they were paid off. The whole system is corrupt and so many people don’t know the facts of where the money goes that they pay from their Apple products. First to shareholders and executives. Next to marketing and raw components, and the last people on the list are Apple employees and even worse contractors. It’s a worthless terrible system.

I mean, the only way for poor people to protest against rich people is stopping working and giving up entirely. No one works for executives and shareholders, none of them can possibly produce anything to sell and profit from it. Until we are reaching a world where all works are done by machines and human becomes irrelevant, poor people can still send rich people a message by stopping working entirely. Would poor people die because they are not working? Yeah but then fewer people will sacrifice their time to let executives and shareholders becoming richer. It’s a cruel and desperate yet effective way to force rich people to take measures and improve work conditions or else they will fall too. Reject slavery, refuse to be ripped off, and say no to being a lifetime cog. There is a reason why China suddenly starts to open up policies to encourage more babies, because fewer people willing to work means less money to the most elite. This works the same way in US.

 

[Velli]

There is a big difference to 'Made in America' to that of being 'Assembled in America' because a vast majority of parts that are required to build something is actually made abroad. 100% of a car used to be made in the US, now I bet it is less than 20% with many of the cars made in the US.

Do you recognize how much richer a country the US is since then? How much less of a percentage of the population is poor now? (Even though it’s still way too high).

Americans speak with nostalgia about times that were so, so much worse than today. If anything, the imperical evidence suggests that US should be manufacturing LESS.

 

[Velli]

Wait until countries starting to introduce export tax targeting the US, payable by whoever exporting stuff to US, which then got charged to whoever importing the stuff. Same $10 goods gonna be taxed twice before entering the US market. It is going to be amazing for Donald Trump and his “America First” I am sure.

Why on earth would any country do that? You clearly don’t understand how money works.

 

[turbineseaplane]

US consumers are addicted to purchasing absolute junk made in China by slave laborers.

This is such an outdated view on Chinese manufacturing.
It also comes across as pretty offensive.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Do you recognize how much richer a country the US is since then? How much less of a percentage of the population is poor now? (Even though it’s still way too high).

Americans speak with nostalgia about times that were so, so much worse than today. If anything, the imperical evidence suggests that US should be manufacturing LESS.

People pining for the American past seem to either not be old enough to remember living in it, or they have completely skewed, incomplete or perhaps propagandized understandings of what it was like.

 

[Velli]

People pining for the American past seem to either not be old enough to remember living in it, or they have completely skewed, incomplete or perhaps propagandized understandings of what it was like.

Sadly I assume that understanding this is too complicated for the very people who need to understand it.

 

[jz0309]

I don't agree with Trump on a lot of things but he made a comment today that I do agree with: he stated that the CEO of Intel, Lio Bu Tan should retire immediately and I wholeheartedly agree with that. What that CEO has done to Intel in just 5 months is an absolute disgrace and the direction where Intel is headed points more and more downhill...

 

[Cuesca]

I don't agree with Trump on a lot of things but he made a comment today that I do agree with: he stated that the CEO of Intel, Lio Bu Tan should retire immediately and I wholeheartedly agree with that. What that CEO has done to Intel in just 5 months is an absolute disgrace and the direction where Intel is headed points more and more downhill...

Intel has been on the decline way before that, a new CEO isn't going to fix it. On the x86 front AMD is chugging along with 4nm on their current gen and will be releasing 3nm in early 2026. While for ARM TSMC and Samsung already has manufacturing in 3nm and should be releasing 1.5nm soon all the while Intel is struggling with 7nm? Yea, a new CEO isn't going to fix it.

 

[jz0309]

Intel has been on the decline way before that, a new CEO isn't going to fix it. On the x86 front AMD is chugging along with 4nm on their current gen and will be releasing 3nm in early 2026. While for ARM TSMC and Samsung already has manufacturing in 3nm and should be releasing 1.5nm soon all the while Intel is struggling with 7nm? Yea, a new CEO isn't going to fix it.

What Tan has achieved in 5 months is headcount reduction of 25% , getting out of 18A, putting 14A on the edge, not done anything to turn Intel into a real foundry, so yes, he needs to go before Intel turns into history.
And I sure know the struggles of Intel over the past decade+, but this guy sure is in the wrong place...

Even more funny, and I do not know if you are part of them, the number of MR posters who call for Cook to resign is just amazing, and by your comments uncalled for, right?

 

[Cuesca]

What Tan has achieved in 5 months is headcount reduction of 25% , getting out of 18A, putting 14A on the edge, not done anything to turn Intel into a real foundry, so yes, he needs to go before Intel turns into history.
And I sure know the struggles of Intel over the past decade+, but this guy sure is in the wrong place...

Even more funny, and I do not know if you are part of them, the number of MR posters who call for Cook to resign is just amazing, and by your comments uncalled for, right?

I never called for Cook to resign, I think you might have confused me with someone else.

In regards to Intel how would you account for them being behind two generations? Not only that Intel has been having yield problems for years. Plus I never even remotely implied that Tan is doing a stellar job. It's just that there is nothing at this point that can save Intel(besides maybe the US justice system), the writing is on the wall and Apple was smart enough to see it 5 years ago.

 

[jz0309]

I never called for Cook to resign, I think you might have confused me with someone else.

In regards to Intel how would you account for them being behind two generations? Not only that Intel has been having yield problems for years. Plus I never even remotely implied that Tan is doing a stellar job. It's just that there is nothing at this point that can save Intel(besides maybe the US justice system), the writing is on the wall and Apple was smart enough to see it 5 years ago.

I didn't mean to imply that you were part of the folks calling for Cooks retiring, sorry.

And I totally disagree that Tan is doing a stellar job, he is leading Intel into oblivion.
Intel is suffering from being an IDM and not providing foundry customers with what they need. They have/had a 18A process but couldn't get customer traction, for a variety of reasons and my confidence that they will gain traction with 14A with the current leadership is nil.

 

[Cuesca]

I didn't mean to imply that you were part of the folks calling for Cooks retiring, sorry.

And I totally disagree that Tan is doing a stellar job, he is leading Intel into oblivion.
Intel is suffering from being an IDM and not providing foundry customers with what they need. They have/had a 18A process but couldn't get customer traction, for a variety of reasons and my confidence that they will gain traction with 14A with the current leadership is nil.

I never said Tan is doing a stellar job either...

 

[jz0309]

I never said Tan is doing a stellar job either...

Sorry, I mis-read that

 

[Radin.Y]

Heh. US should be the one pay for it not Mexico. Who sells goods to another country by paying their customers?

Perhaps you forgot the reference

 

[Jetscreamer]

Just transfer $16 million to tRUMP’s personal account Timmy. Is that simple, just ask Paramount.

 

[picpicmac]

[Trump] stated that the CEO of Intel ....

Why is the President of the US dictating how a company should run it's own business?

Trump is trying to be a dictator, and no one should bow down to him.

Trump is also a demonstrated bigot, and I suspect the Intel chief having a name that sounds foreign (to the likes of Trump) is all that is behind Trump's declaration.

 

[Jetscreamer]

Why is the President of the US dictating how a company should run it's own business?

Trump is trying to be a dictator, and no one should bow down to him.

Trump is also a demonstrated bigot, and I suspect the Intel chief having a name that sounds foreign (to the likes of Trump) is all that is behind Trump's declaration.

Is called ‘Pay to Play’, and will be the new normal for the next four years. Corporate America is bribing tRUMP in order to continue to do business. We are now officially a banana republic.

 

[Shirasaki]

Perhaps you forgot the reference

Ohh you mean his “Mexico will pay the wall” reference.

 

[Shirasaki]

Why is the President of the US dictating how a company should run it's own business?

Trump is trying to be a dictator, and no one should bow down to him.

Trump is also a demonstrated bigot, and I suspect the Intel chief having a name that sounds foreign (to the likes of Trump) is all that is behind Trump's declaration.

Trump IS a dictator and US IS now a dictatorship, with power held by republicans.

 

[jz0309]

Why is the President of the US dictating how a company should run it's own business?

Trump is trying to be a dictator, and no one should bow down to him.

Trump is also a demonstrated bigot, and I suspect the Intel chief having a name that sounds foreign (to the likes of Trump) is all that is behind Trump's declaration.

this wasn't clear (to me at least) at first, but his comments are related to this:

Cadence Design Systems Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay Over $140 Million for Unlawfully Exporting Semiconductor Design Tools to a Restricted PRC Military University

The Counterintelligence and Export Control Section (CES) of the Justice Department’s National Security Division (NSD), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California (NDCA) today announced that Cadence Design Systems Inc. (Cadence), a multinational electronic design...

www.justice.gov

Tan was CEO of Cadence til 2021, so what happened back then, happened under his leadership there

 

[ThailandToo]

This is such an outdated view on Chinese manufacturing.
It also comes across as pretty offensive.

It’s actually the way it is in China. The country is amazing. And at the same time, the government and companies treat the citizens terribly to fulfill the government’s vision of the future on the backs of the citizens.

 

[bgillander]

There is a big difference to 'Made in America' to that of being 'Assembled in America' because a vast majority of parts that are required to build something is actually made abroad. 100% of a car used to be made in the US, now I bet it is less than 20% with many of the cars made in the US.
This website shows the percentage of cars made in the US https://www.carscoops.com/2025/03/how-much-of-your-car-is-really-made-in-the-usa/
Only 4 model of cars currently have 70% or more of it's car made in the US made by Hyundai, Honda (x2) and Tesla.

Of all the cars sold in the US, 55% of them are made in the US and none of them are 100% made in the US, the highest being 80% (Kia EV6). The US once had a very strong thriving car industry which has been allowed to virtually disappear in favor of foreign made cars and car parts.

I therefore see nothing wrong in a government wanting to bring the good times back to the US, a thriving manufacturing industry where jobs are plenty and long term.

I always find that list hard to read because the percentages don’t even add up. The first car on the list, the Audi A3 40, shows 1% US/Canada and 53% Other, so 46% is unaccounted for, which is a really questionable error rate. Or maybe I’m reading it wrong.

The hope that every part should be locally produced is understandable, but that same instinct would also mean that you should only expect to sell locally, as why would any other country not have the same desire? The whole theory of free trade is that it makes sense to divide the manufacturing tasks along with sharing the markets. If the manufacturing isn’t shared, why would the markets be?

The 55% is actually a higher percentage than I stated, and fairly good for the USA, as the assembly jobs are usually the higher paying, union ones. A lot of the others would be lower paying manufacturing, and the robots they will use to re-shore low level American manufacturing won’t really get many humans jobs, anyway.

Do you buy Chevy/Ford/Dodge? I’ve tried to support local and have bought only from the Detroit/Windsor, USA/Canada manufacturers for 40 years, but as a Canadian watching Trump mess with yet another long term functional relationship between our two countries, it does make me question that loyalty. Three different companies’ factories that I had worked at in the past have moved to the USA since NAFTA was signed in the 90s, so I very much understand your concern, but it seems surreal to hear the complaints about Canada, when the USA has already poached a lot of our manufacturing jobs. But his conflating purchasing products from a country with a subsidy is even more frustrating.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is that it may always seem like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but that is a terrible reason to build a fence.

 

[bgillander]

“Introduce”? Don’t these already exist?

That’s why there are specified “Duty Free” locations when traveling.

On a larger scale, it seems that these exist in “resource rich” countries. I don’t have time to search further at the moment. Maybe someone else knows.

No, I believe Duty Free actually avoids local taxes, not export taxes.

AFAIK, Duty Free locations sell you products with no tax of the locale they are within, on the expectation that you will be paying the taxes of the country to which you are travelling. That is, you don’t pay the taxes at source because you are in theory paying local and import taxes at destination.

If you exceed your personal exemption limit, you then find out the taxes the hard way.

 

[bgillander]

People pining for the American past seem to either not be old enough to remember living in it, or they have completely skewed, incomplete or perhaps propagandized understandings of what it was like.

Honestly, there definitely were some parts of the past that were better than today, but it never feels like those are the parts that the people trying to roll back time want. If anything, it seems like they want to roll back a lot of the improvements.

There’s nothing they’re selling that I’m looking for, as neither Kurt Cobain nor my youth are coming back!

The weirdest part, though, is trying to imagine any of the people pitching these manufacturing jobs actually wanting to work them. The iPhone assembly lines look like a job where I would go mad within a week.

 

[sevoneone]

The world has to find the way to live on without the US.

As the US pulls back from science and research, I'm waiting for China to start inching its way into the gaps. As the International Space Station nears retirement and it becomes clear the US/NASA are not going to materialize an actually sustainable replacement... How long until until China is inviting other countries to use their space station?

US consumers are addicted to purchasing absolute junk made in China by slave laborers. I think that’s a problem. The vast majority of these low cost products are junk that aren’t needed.

The politicians allowed the companies to send all the jobs overseas for shareholders benefits. That’s because they benefited too.

Nobody wins. But one thing I do think is if the US has no national debt, taking care of people that need it would happen.

Most of the products coming out of China are not junk unless the western company/person asking for the product are asking for corners to be cut to save even more money. If you want to build a solid product in China, there is nothing stoping most except greed. The real problem with cheap overseas manufacturing is that it has directly contributed to the decline in repairability in even the most essential appliances. Cheap manufacturing leads to washing machines with more over-engineered chips/digital controllers that enable all kinds of gimmicks that add little value and degrade reliability. But, the same cheap manufacturing means it costs little extra to build a bunch of spare parts you can sell to the consumer with an extreme markup when their wifi chip burns out and, for some reason, that means the washer can't run a spin cycle. All of a sudden "supporting" your products enables another profitable revenue stream. Yay $$$.

Honestly, there definitely were some parts of the past that were better than today, but it never feels like those are the parts that the people trying to roll back time want. If anything, it seems like they want to roll back a lot of the improvements.

There’s nothing they’re selling that I’m looking for, as neither Kurt Cobain nor my youth are coming back!

It's unbelievable how these people can look back and say their life was better xx years ago, but are incapable of picking out the actual reasons why. Wages generally kept up with inflation and the cost of goods. You could actually buy a house and save for retirement. If your employer offered health insurance, it was likely to be "Cadillac" full coverage for your whole family and a late night trip to the emergency room might cost you $40, not an almost guaranteed $1,500 that makes you sit up all night and wonder if it could be "just gas or heartburn." You were probably paying more of your income in taxes but didn't notice because the system was balanced. And media was not force-fed to us all the time. Now we sit and doom scroll and check the value of Dogecoin while waiting to see if it really is a heart attack or not; giving idiots and fools too much power by letting them and their attention seeking power grabs live rent free in our minds... And, yes it is 10:30pm on a Thursday, I am on the internet, trying to ignore what feels like a hernia while commenting on a political post. I've never been prouder to be an American.