Although the new import tariffs imposed by the Trump administration do not tax semiconductor imports, they do tax imports of wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) made outside of the U.S. and used by American chipmakers. As a result, companies like Intel, GlobalFoundries, Samsung Foundry, and TSMC will have to pay at least 20% more for chipmaking tools in the U.S. than they do in other countries, which will likely affect the prices of chips made in America.
Although the U.S.-based Applied Materials, KLA, and Lam Research control about 50% of the chipmaking tool market, producers of fab tools from China, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan command the remaining 50%. U.S.-based chipmakers hardly use tools made in China, but they certainly use lithography, etching, and deposition equipment produced in the EU, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Starting from April 9, they will have to pay a 20% to 32% import tax (depending on the origin of the equipment) when buying semiconductor production equipment from companies in these countries, which will inevitably affect their costs in the U.S.
