Americans set to pay more on all imports: Trump activates blanket tariffs

Tech slugged with higher duties, broad base 10% hike, semiconductors avoid retaliatory levies for now

World War Fee US President Donald Trump has imposed a base ten percent tariff on imports into America, and higher levies on goods from major producers of digital tech, such as China, South Korea, and Taiwan.

At an event he named “Liberation Day” Wednesday, Trump declared a national emergency on the grounds that the practices of America’s trading partners “constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and economy of the United States.”

The sole example of technology industry practices cited in the Trump administration’s fact sheet and executive order is India charging a ten percent duty on imported American switches and routers, while the USA charges no duty on such networking devices entering its land.

The ten percent blanket tariff comes into force on April 5.

Four days later, the US will impose “reciprocal tariffs” – levies in response to other countries’ import duties – on many nations. These retaliatory fees, outlined in a list published on the White House’s X account, target several countries known to host significant tech manufacturing industries.

Among major hardware-producing nations, Thailand and Malaysia will be hit with the highest reciprocal tariffs - 36 percent - ahead of China at an additional 34 percent and Taiwan at 32 percent. Imports from China are already tariffed at 20 percent and that won't go away.

Reciprocal tariffs on Indian imports mean they will cost 26 percent more once they reach the USA, a blow to its ambition to become a global tech manufacturing player. Another aspiring tech player, Vietnam, faces 46 percent reciprocal tariffs.

Taiwanese imports will cost 25 percent more by the time they reach US buyers under the reciprocal tariff plan, as will kit from South Korea. Japan and Thailand each face 24 percent reciprocal tariffs.

Even Israel, one of the USA’s staunchest allies, will face a 17 percent reciprocal tariff.

Everything imported from the European Union will be subject to a 20 percent tariff.

One apparent goal of these levies is to encourage manufacturers to make more gear in America so as to avoid these import fees. What's made in the USA will thus be more competitively priced than shipped-in tariff-hit foreign components and products, so buying American costs less in the nation all while lowering revenues for overseas suppliers.

Hence why Apple and others have pledged to invest in factories in the United States.

It's hard to imagine these tariffs won't, at least in the short-to-mid-term, result in price rises for folks and businesses in America, however, because importers pay the tariffs and will likely protect their profits by passing on the increased costs to buyers in the States. Manufacturers need time to either shift production to stateside factories or build new facilities, all of which involves cost.

The alternative is that businesses bringing products into the US take a hit to their profit margins by absorbing the tariffs.

If you are in the US, prepare to pay more for foreign-built parts and stuff for now, we reckon. Intel, Apple, and Samsung manufacture in Vietnam. Many hard disk drives are made in Thailand. Dell makes laptops in Malaysia. iPhones are now made in India as well as China.

In some good news for Taiwan, a powerhouse of manufacturing thanks to the likes of TSMC, the White House signaled that semiconductors will be exempt from reciprocal tariffs. However, President Trump has previously warned of 100 percent tariffs on imported chips. Copper, pharmaceuticals, lumber, steel and aluminum, some minerals, certain automotive parts, and other bits and pieces, are also spared from reciprocal tariffs.

Additionally, Canada and Mexico are exempted from the 10 percent base rate as they are already covered by earlier tough levies imposed by the President.

This is a developing story as the administration is yet to publish detailed documentation of its tariff plans, so we can't assess what tariff would apply to a device that includes components made in Taiwan and Vietnam, before being partly assembled in South Korea and completed in the USA. The Register will update this story if more useful material becomes available. ®

Boo-note

At time of writing, in after-hours trading already: Apple shares down 7 percent, Amazon down 6, Meta down 5, Nvidia down 5, Microsoft down 3, Alphabet down 4, Cisco down 3, IBM down 2, HPE down 4, HP Inc down 5, Intel down 4, AMD down 5, Arm down 5, Qualcomm down 3, TSMC down 5, Dell down 6...

PS: 'De minimis' exemptions for imported packages under $800 from China and Hong Kong will end on May 2, affecting Temu, Shein, and similar internet souks.