FT: "U.S. to Exempt Taiwanese Semiconductors from Tariffs"...What About Korea?

The United States is reportedly reviewing a plan to exclude Big Tech companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft from the next round of semiconductor tariffs.

The Financial Times (FT) reported on the 9th (local time), citing sources, that "the U.S. Department of Commerce plans to grant tariff exemptions to U.S. hyperscaler companies," adding that "this will be linked to investment pledges by Taiwanese semiconductor company TSMC."

According to the FT, this exemption scheme underscores U.S. President Donald Trump’s strong determination to impose tariffs on semiconductors and encourage semiconductor production within the United States. At the same time, it is also seen as a measure that provides some breathing room for the companies driving America’s rapid artificial intelligence (AI) expansion, which heavily depends on imported semiconductors.

President Trump has so far used the threat of tariffs to pressure companies to expand manufacturing in the United States. However, he has not imposed全面 tariffs on semiconductors from Taiwan, based on the judgment that Big Tech’s AI supply chains could be severely disrupted.

Last month, the White House announced that it planned to impose "significant" tariffs on semiconductor importers. Under the new scheme, TSMC will be able to allocate exemption benefits from the upcoming tariffs to its U.S. customers. The scope of the exemptions will vary depending on the scale of TSMC’s investments in the United States.

TSMC has already pledged to invest 165 billion dollars in order to expand its production capacity in the United States. The plan is interpreted as an attempt to induce TSMC to move more of its production base to the United States, while at the same time easing the sharp increase in chip procurement costs for U.S. Big Tech companies.

FT, citing a government official, reported that "the plan is still in flux and has not received the president’s signature." It also reported that the U.S. Department of Commerce and the White House did not respond to requests for comment, and that TSMC declined to comment.

This initiative is linked to a recently concluded U.S.-Taiwan trade agreement. The White House agreed to cut tariffs on imports from Taiwan to 15 percent, while Taiwan agreed to invest 250 billion dollars in the U.S. semiconductor industry.