U.S. President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement Wednesday: a planned 100% tariff on imported semiconductors. That’s unless the manufacturer is building or committing to build manufacturing facilities in the United States. Investors appeared optimistic, causing a rally in Taiwan tech stocks, especially as iPhone-maker Apple announced another US$100 billion for U.S. manufacturing.
00:00A surprise announcement from the White House. President Donald Trump says he plans to impose
00:06tariffs of up to 100 percent on semiconductors, with one key exception.
00:12So 100 percent tariff on all chips and semiconductors coming into the United States.
00:18But if you've made a commitment to build or if you're in the process of building, as many are,
00:23there is no tariff.
00:25No details have been published yet. While a 100 percent levy on Taiwan's most valuable industry
00:30would be devastating, investors seem to think that the U.S. investment carve-out puts most
00:35Taiwanese firms in the clear. Taiwan's main stock index, the Tayex, closed up 2.37 percent.
00:43Tech heavyweights like chip giant TSMC gained nearly 5 percent, reaching a record high. Others
00:48like Foxconn and MediaTek also saw gains. One firm, Global Wafers, saw their shares rise so
00:54high that it triggered an automatic trade stoppage.
00:57Your company, please.
00:59That's as Apple CEO Tim Cook announced from the White House the company's additional
01:04100 billion U.S. dollar investment in U.S. manufacturing, with partners like Global Wafers
01:10and TSMC.
01:11And I'm very proud to say that today we're committing an additional 100 billion to the
01:17United States, bringing our total U.S. investment to 600 billion over the next four years.
01:23For Taiwan, the announcement lands the same day a 20 percent U.S. tariff on most other
01:28goods kicks in. Officials say their negotiations for a trade deal with Washington to bring that
01:34number down continue.
01:35But there are many questions unanswered. How much investment is required to be exempt from the tax? Even if most of Taiwan's companies avoid the tariff,
01:40some ask how it may affect the industry back home.
01:43But there are many questions unanswered. How much investment is required to be exempt from the tax? Even if most of Taiwan's companies avoid the tariff,
01:50some ask how it may affect the industry back home.
01:57But there are many questions unanswered. How much investment is required to be exempt from the tax? Even if most of Taiwan's companies avoid the tariff,
02:04some ask how it may affect the industry back home.
02:07A commerce department probe needed to authorize the 100 percent tariff could wrap up as early as next week.
02:12Until the fine print is public, the true impact of the tax is hard to judge.
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