U.S. Trade Representative: Still considering imposing tariffs on chips but will not immediately implement them, will set up offset mechanism to attract factory construction.

United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer stated during a visit to Micron Technology, Inc.'s (MU.US) Manassas factory in Virginia that the Trump administration is still considering plans to impose tariffs on imported semiconductors to promote the development of the domestic chip manufacturing industry. However, there are currently no immediate plans to implement new tariffs. Greer emphasized that it is "very important" to impose tariffs on semiconductors, but more importantly, it is crucial to "move forward at the right time and with the right magnitude to promote the reshoring of manufacturing." He made it clear that tariffs will not be imposed "immediately" tomorrow or next week, and revealed that the government is in continuous discussions with the industry regarding the timing and scope of tariffs and is designing a "offset mechanism" - where companies manufacturing in the United States can receive a certain percentage of import quota during the reshoring period. He stated, "We are committed to supporting Micron and the actions of other companies in the semiconductor industry." This statement continues the semiconductor trade policy direction of the Trump administration since early 2026. On January 14 of this year, the White House issued a presidential order citing national security reasons to impose a 25% ad valorem tariff on certain imported advanced computing chips, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and derivatives, which officially took effect on January 15. The U.S. Department of Commerce's 232 investigation report pointed out that the United States consumes about a quarter of the world's semiconductors, but can only produce around 10% of domestic demand, leading to a significant security threat from dependence on foreign supply chains. It is worth noting that the initial 25% tariff phase has broad exemption clauses, including chips used for purposes such as building data centers, domestic research and development, and consumer applications, which are exempt from tariffs. The White House also announced that a second phase would implement "significant tariffs" on a wider range of semiconductor products after negotiations with relevant countries and regions are completed, accompanied by a tariff deduction plan to incentivize domestic investment. Under this policy guidance, storage chip giants are accelerating the expansion of domestic production capacity in the United States. Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO of Micron Technology, Inc., stated during the event that the company's expansion plans in the United States will increase capacity to meet the surge in demand for storage chips driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. He expects the shortage of storage chips to "continue beyond 2026," and the company is signing long-term supply agreements with customers to ensure supply predictability. With the demand for AI driving it, Micron's stock price has risen by over 163% this year. Micron has committed to investing about $200 billion in manufacturing and research in the United States, with over $2 billion going towards the expansion of the Virginia factory, supporting over 3,100 jobs. The factory officially started production of 1 DRAM on May 22, the most advanced storage technology manufactured domestically in the United States, and is expected to complete qualified mass production certification by the end of 2026. Micron's U.S. investment plan also includes projects in Idaho and New York, with a total of around 90,000 jobs expected to be created. Greer positively affirmed the investments of companies like Micron at the event: "Our expectation is that you need to build a factory here, then there will be some sort of multiplier - if you build a factory here, then during the manufacturing reshoring phase, you can import a certain amount." South Korea's two major storage chip giants are facing more urgent tariff pressures. In January of this year, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Lutenik explicitly warned at the groundbreaking ceremony for Micron's New York factory, "All storage chip producers have only two choices - either pay a 100% tariff or produce in the United States." This statement directly pressures Samsung Electronics (SSNLF.US) and SK Hynix. According to analysts, Samsung has pledged around $37 billion in investments in the United States for foundry operations, while SK Hynix has invested about $3.9 billion in building an advanced packaging facility in Indiana, but neither has established a production line for DRAM storage chips in the United States. The latest developments show that SK Hynix's first American semiconductor factory in Indiana broke ground on April 17, 2026, and is primarily aimed at production of next-generation high-bandwidth memory such as HBM4E and HBM5, with production expected to begin in the second half of 2028; Samsung is currently constructing a logic chip factory in Austin. However, in the field of high-end storage chip manufacturing in the United States, Micron remains the only company currently producing domestic DRAM.