The Donald Trump administration in the United States announced that it has begun an investigation to assess the impact of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals on national security. As President Trump repeatedly predicted, steps are being taken to impose tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.
On the 14th (local time), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced in the Federal Register that it has initiated an investigation to determine the impact of imports of semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and derivative products on national security. It also stated that an investigation has been launched on pharmaceuticals and their raw materials.
This investigation is based on Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. This law grants the president the authority to restrict imports through appropriate measures such as tariffs if the import of certain items is deemed a threat to national security.
Previously, tariffs of 25% were imposed on steel, aluminum, and automobiles using Section 232, so it is highly likely that trade measures such as tariffs will also be applied to semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. Although semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were excluded from the reciprocal tariff imposition that began on the 9th, President Trump had announced plans to impose item-specific tariffs on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals similar to those on steel, aluminum, and automobiles.
On the previous day, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stated in an interview that semiconductor tariffs would likely be announced "within a month or two." However, President Trump said the day before that semiconductor tariffs would be implemented "in the very near future" and that the tariff rates would be announced next week.
According to the Federal Register, the investigation into semiconductors and pharmaceuticals began on the 1st. The Department of Commerce plans to officially publish the investigation in the Federal Register on the 16th and collect opinions for 21 days. Actual tariff imposition is expected to begin in earnest as early as next month.
The semiconductor-related investigation targets include semiconductor substrates, bare wafers, legacy semiconductors, leading-edge semiconductors, microelectronics, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment parts.
The pharmaceutical-related investigation targets include finished drugs, key raw materials such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), vaccines, antibiotics, and medical countermeasures for public health emergencies.
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