Donald Trump’s administration reportedly intends to spare companies including Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG) (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) from forthcoming tariffs on chips as they race to build the data centers powering the AI boom.
The commerce department is planning to provide U.S. hyperscalers with tariff carve-outs, which would be tied to investment commitments made by Taiwan-based chip group Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
Trump has used the threat of tariffs to push for more U.S. manufacturing. But the administration has stopped short of applying broad tariffs on semiconductors from Taiwan, which would rock Big Tech’s AI supply chain, the report said.
The new scheme would allow TSMC (TSM) to allocate exemptions for its U.S. customers from this next set of tariffs. The complex plan is intended to push the world’s leading chipmaker to shift more production to the U.S. TSMC has pledged to invest $165B in building capacity in the U.S.
An administration official briefed on the plans cautioned they were in flux and had not been signed by the president, the report added. “We’re going to be monitoring what unfolds after this is unveiled like hawks to make sure that the integrity of what we’re trying to accomplish with the tariffs and the rebates isn’t undermined and that this doesn’t end up being a giveaway to TSMC,” the official said.