# US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 imposing a 25% tariff on a narrowly defined set of advanced semiconductors.

*semiconductor · news · 2026-01-15 · Outlook Business*

## Key points

- President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on select advanced semiconductors, including Nvidia’s H200 and AMD’s MI325X.
- Tariffs exclude chips imported for US data centres, startups, consumer electronics, and public-sector use.
- Commerce Secretary Lutnick has broad authority to grant additional exemptions under the new tariff regime.
- Imports passing through the US to China after testing will face the 25% tariff upon entering US customs.
- The new levy will not be cumulative with existing Section 232 tariffs, clarifying potential cost impact.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 imposing a 25% tariff on a narrowly defined set of advanced semiconductors, including Nvidia’s H200 processor and AMD’s MI325X, citing economic and national security concerns. The decision follows a nine-month investigation that concluded US reliance on foreign manufacturing for critical chips poses a strategic risk. According to a White House fact sheet, the tariffs are tightly scoped and will not apply to chips imported for use in US data centres, startups, consumer electronics, civil industrial applications, or public-sector deployments. The proclamation also grants Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick broad authority to issue additional exemptions, signalling an effort to protect domestic technology deployment while nudging more chip production onshore. Rationale & Enforcement Strategy Administration officials said current US manufacturing capacity supplies only a small portion of domestic demand for advanced semiconductors. The measure is intended to incentivise local production and address transshipment practices, particularly chips manufactured in Taiwan that pass through the US for testing before being re-exported to China. Such imports will now attract the 25% levy upon entering the US customs system. Market Reaction Chip stocks reacted mildly to the announcement, with shares of Nvidia and AMD slipping in after-hours trade. Both companies have previously said they comply with US regulations and did not immediately comment on the new tariffs. Industry groups and analysts cautioned that even narrowly targeted measures could add friction to global supply chains and complicate planning for chipmakers and customers. The White House said the order leaves room for broader semiconductor tariffs and complementary incentive measures aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing. An annex clarified that the new levy will not be stacked on top of existing Section 232 tariffs. Analysts see the move as part of a wider industrial-policy-driven trade strategy that has already extended tariffs across multiple sectors.

**Companies:** Nvidia, AMD
**Countries:** United States, Taiwan

[Read the full story on Outlook Business](https://www.outlookbusiness.com/start-up/deeptech/us-semiconductor-policy-trump-targets-ai-chips-imposes-25-tariff-on-nvidia-h200-amd-mi325x-chips)

---

Canonical: https://newsio.io/n/e2ec8f1d-db1d-4035-a872-63b709c5036b/us-president-donald-trump-on-wednesday-signed-a-proclamation-under-section-232-o
Summarized by Newsio from Outlook Business. https://newsio.io/how-it-works