Say what you will about Trump's tariffs, they certainly make for, let's say, 'interesting' times. And in case you were in any doubt about the purpose and spirit of these levies, Trump's latest comments to chip giant TSMC should clear things up: "All I did is say if you don't build your plant here you're gonna pay a big tax... 25, maybe 50, maybe 75, maybe 100%."
Trump said this at a recent Republican National Congressional Committee event (via Reuters). There's more than a slight ring of strong-arm tactics in that, to my ears, but President Trump's argument would doubtless be that if it works, it works. It 'working' here would mean TSMC moving its production to the US, and to be fair to this bold tariff strategy, TSMC is now planning on investing $100 billion in the US.
