President Donald Trump revealed his tariffs for countries he says have "ripped off" the United States for decades during a speech at the White House on April 2. So far, only the 10% across-the-board tariff has been implemented, but the larger tariffs–such as the 46% on Vietnam and the 26% on Japan–won't go into effect until April 9.
The tariff announcements already have had an effect. Two days after the game company revealed its Switch 2, Nintendo released a statement that it was delaying the start of pre-orders for its new console due to Trump's tariffs.
One major company doing its best to avoid dealing with these tariffs is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which provides chips to Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and AMD.
TSMC will start a partnership with Intel to operate its chip-making factories in the U.S., according to a report from The Information. As part of the deal, the Taiwanese chip maker reportedly will take a 20% stake in Intel, share its manufacturing methods, and train Intel employees on those methods.
TSMC's tariff gamble.
A partnership with Intel has been a move TSMC has been working on for some time now.
Back in February, the chip maker appeared to be in the market to acquire Intel's manufacturing plants. Broadcom was another semiconductor company interested in those factories as well. This selling off of parts of Intel led some former employees to remark about the demise of the company, which was a powerhouse when it came to chip-making.
Intel has 15 plants across the U.S. and is constructing more due to the grants from the Chips Act of 2022. Intel is receiving up to $7.9 billion in funding to help build its factories in Ohio, Arizona, and other locations.
During his speech to the joint session of Congress on March 4, Trump took a shot at the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signed by former President Joe Biden, which aimed to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
"Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn't mean a thing. They take our money and they don't spend it," Trump said in his speech. "You should get rid of the CHIPS Act and whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt."
Trump did praise TSMC for its investment in U.S. manufacturing in that speech, as well as other talks since then.
TSMC said back in March that it plans to invest an additional $100 billion into semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., focusing on its plant in Phoenix, which would bring the company’s total investment in the country to $165 billion. This Arizona plant is reportedly making Apple's A16 processor, the chip used in the company's iPhones and other Apple devices.
Trump has yet to institute a tariff on semiconductors. He did tell White House reporters on Air Force One Thursday that the chips tariffs was going to start "very soon."
