Former President Donald Trump criticized the CHIPS and Science Act during a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, saying that the government should have levied tariffs on the semiconductor industry.
"That chip deal is so bad, we put up billions of dollars for rich companies to come and borrow the money and build chip companies here, and they're not going to give us the good companies anyway," Trump said. The world's largest contract chip manufacturer TSMC is set to receive $11.6 billion in CHIPS Act funding - $6.6bn in grants and $5bn in loans - and is building a major fab in Arizona. Companies Intel, GlobalFoundries, and others have also been beneficiaries of the Act, alongside South Korean firms SK Hynix and Samsung.
"No tariff amount will equal the costs of ripping apart these investments and efficient supply chains that have enabled current US industry leadership," SIA said. It added: "Moreover, chip tariffs will drive away manufacturing in advanced sectors that rely on semiconductor technology, such as aerospace, AI, robotics, next-generation networks, and autonomous vehicles. If the cost of key inputs like semiconductors is too high, tech manufacturers will relocate out of the US, costing jobs and further eroding US manufacturing and technological competitiveness."
