Donald Trump threw a spanner in the works when he recently announced that he would implement a 100% tariff on the much sought-after semiconductors, which could potentially disrupt the tech hardware industry into unforeseen chaos — and Mark Cuban decided to be sarcastic and call it a “brilliant” move of doing “what Dems have dreamed of,” though not everyone got the joke.
Semiconductors are one of the most valuable pieces of technology in the world today. As the name suggests, they conduct electricity partially, and half the time act as insulators. That’s jargon for saying they make devices that rely on electricity — such as cars, video game consoles, smartphones, and perhaps most importantly AI — more efficient. Their production and supply are vital for entire economies; Japan cannot produce Toyota and Sony products without them, Apple cannot produce iPhones, and ChatGPT is not going to continue developing without semiconductors.
