Trump Threatens 'Fairly Substantial' Chip Tariffs, Indicating Apple Would Be Exempted

President Donald Trump told Thursday that his administration would soon implement "fairly substantial" tariffs on semiconductor chips, indicating that firms investing in America, like Apple, will be spared.

Addressing a White House dinner with over two dozen leading tech CEOs, such as Apple's Tim Cook, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, and Oracle CEO Safra Catz, Trump emphasized that companies that are not shifting production to the U.S. would be hit with new tariffs.

"We will be imposing a tariff very soon," Trump said, emphasizing it would be "fairly substantial." He said that businesses that were growing their American presence would be shielded. "Tim Cook would be in pretty good shape," he said, alluding to Apple's recent commitment to spend another $100 billion on U.S. manufacturing, on top of an earlier announcement this year of $500 billion.

The U.S. effort to build up local semiconductor supply chains has already attracted top commitments from TSMC and Samsung, which are constructing huge factories in the country. Such companies, as well as Apple, are anticipated by experts to be exempted under Trump's policy.

Though Trump was not specific in outlining the extent of the tariffs, he indicated that firms "coming in, building, or planning to come in" would be spared penalties.

The dinner also served as a platform for Trump to receive support from industry leaders for his pro-business stance and backing of artificial intelligence. Notable attendees included OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who clashed with Trump earlier this year, did not attend but confirmed he was invited.

Earlier in the evening, First Lady Melania Trump addressed the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education, urging that AI’s growth be managed “responsibly” while supporting innovation in schools.