The Trump administration said on Tuesday that China’s increasing dominance of the semiconductor industry had disadvantaged U.S. companies, workers and the economy, concluding a trade investigation that started during the Biden administration.
But while the Office of the United States Trade Representative said that actions against China were appropriate, it chose not to impose additional tariffs on Chinese chips for at least 18 months. A filing from the trade office said the government would impose an initial tariff of zero percent on Chinese semiconductors exports before increasing it in June 2027 by an undetermined amount.
The decision to punt on additional tariffs, at least for now, comes as the Trump administration is trying to maintain a truce with China after a devastating trade spat earlier this year. In April, President Trump raised tariffs on China, only to have Beijing respond by cutting off exports of vital minerals and ceasing purchases of American soybeans. China later promised to restore their mineral exports as part of a trade truce that also saw the United States lower tariffs.
The trade investigation on semiconductors was started in the final months of the Biden administration. It focused on China’s production of older-model semiconductors, which are widely used in smartphones, cars, dishwashers, refrigerators, weaponry and telecommunications networks.
Republicans and Democrats have grown concerned in recent years that the United States’ growing dependence on these products could pose a national security threat. China has invested heavily in the production of older kinds of semiconductors, making it difficult for U.S. factories making similar products to stay in business.
Mr. Trump has proposed imposing other tariffs on semiconductor imports as part of a national security-related legal provision known as Section 232. While those tariffs were originally expected to be announced over the summer, administration officials have been weighing how to issue the levies so that they encourage U.S. manufacturing and do not disrupt ties with China.
It is not yet clear how the administration will rule on such a measure, but analysts have said that Beijing could view tariffs on its products as an affront. Other actions directed at China have proceeded. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on the sale of new foreign-made drones in the United States, while earlier this month the United States carried out a large arms sale to Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own.
Sara Schuman, a former U.S. trade official who is now managing director at Beacon Global Strategies, said that Beijing was “very sensitive” about U.S. actions targeted at China or Chinese companies, but that actions intended to build up American industrial capacity that were not explicitly targeted at China would not raise the same level of concern.
“The administration seems to be threading this needle right now by moving forward with global actions in which China is just one of the countries impacted,” she said.
Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade.
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