Trump Promises Tariffs on Steel, Chips and Semiconductors 'Sometime Next Week, Week After'
Tariffs on steel, chips and semiconductors will come into effect by next week or the week after, President Donald Trump said on Aug. 15.
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Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on his way to Alaska, Trump said that companies will start to build factories in the U.S. because if they don't, "they have to pay in some cases 200%, 300% [tariff rates]." He then said that he has not "even set some of the tariffs yet," and that he will be setting tariffs "next week and the week after on steel and on, I would say, chips. Chips and semiconductors we'll be setting sometime next week, week after."
When asked at what rate those tariffs would be, he responded that he will "have a rate that is going to be lower at the beginning," to give companies a chance to "come in and build," followed by a rate that will be "very high after a certain period of time."
Hours after the impromptu press conference, the Commerce Department announced that it will add 407 new tariff subheadings to Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives (see 2508150063).