It seems that consumer PC products are again under the threat of tariffs, as a new policy by the Trump administration could make them much more expensive.
The USG Plans To Implement Tariffs Based On 'Chip Content' Used From Foreign Fabs, Affecting Several PC Products
The USG is currently evaluating the scope of its chip policies and is focused on bringing manufacturing back to US soil. Instead of solely relying on investments from the likes of TSMC, the Trump administration is now considering implementing tariffs on "foreign electronic devices" by calculating the value of the item's chip content. This means that if firms like NVIDIA and Apple are using offshore fabs for their chip needs, the products could face tariffs, and based on what Reuters states, this could affect several consumer products, including laptops, CPUs, and GPUs.
According to the plan, which has not previously been reported and could change, the Commerce Department would impose a tariff on the imported product that is equal to a percentage of the estimated value of the chip content of the item.
- Reuters
The intention behind such policies is to ensure that firms like TSMC shift entirely to domestic production in the US, instead of adopting a rather 'dual-sourcing strategy'. Now, the report doesn't entirely reveal the mechanism of how the administration plans to figure out the value of chip content inside foreign-made items. Still, if there is such an implementation, the US administration will need to have a body that determines factors like origin and destination country, product type, and the chip type each device contains, and this certainly has an enormous operational overhead.
We know that many consumer GPUs, such as NVIDIA's RTX series and AMD's Radeon GPUs, are sourced from nations like Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia, with most of them containing chips from TSMC's Taiwan fabs. Similar is the case for consumer CPUs, such as AMD's Ryzen processors, which also come under the influence of chip tariffs. In a previous report, we discussed how the tariff rates under chip policies could go up to 100% if chip firms don't comply, and the added costs to transfer to consumer products.
Here's an estimate of how pricing could change under 100% chip tariffs for CPUs and GPUs. It's important to note that this is mere speculation for now, and the policies haven't come into effect yet:
| Product | MSRP / Launch Price | Price with 100% Tariff (Estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D | $479 | ≈ $958 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 | $999 | ≈ $1,998 |
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 | $1,999 | ≈ $3,998 |
| AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT | $599 | ≈ $1,198 |
AMD is known to be shifting Ryzen CPU production to the TSMC Arizona fab, and similarly, NVIDIA is also making efforts to ensure that it commits to American manufacturing. Hence, it isn't entirely sure that chip tariffs apply to these firms' products. However, the threat still looms until these chip policies actually come into effect.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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