President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced tariffs on certain chip imports to the US with hopes of bolstering semiconductor making, a day after solidifying a deal that would allow some of Nvidia's H200 chips to be sold to China.
"The [Commerce] Secretary found that the United States' capacity to manufacture semiconductors is too low to meet projected national defence needs and to match the requirements of a growing commercial industry," the White House said, announcing the semiconductor policy tweak.
The announcement said that as part of a plan to ensure the US could eventually produce enough semiconductors for domestic use, it would impose a "25 per cent ad valorem tariff on a very narrow category of semiconductors" that are an important part of artificial intelligence and technology policies, with hopes that it would incentivise domestic chip production.
The move comes after the Trump White House faced criticism from Democratic and Republican officials after it decided to allow for the sale of Nvidia's H200 semiconductors to China, which some felt would give Beijing a way to catch up to the US lead in AI.
The US and China have taken an increasingly adversarial view of one another as countries around the world jockey to take a leadership role in AI development.
Hours before Mr Trump announced the tweak, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren hit out against the White House plan to send Nvidia chips to China.
"Demand for AI chips in the United States far outstrips supply, and we should not let companies like Nvidia sell to Chinese tech giants as US companies, start-ups and universities wait in line," Ms Warren said.
"I will keep working with my colleagues to pass bipartisan legislation like the GAIN AI Act and the SAFE Chips Act," she added, referring to legislation that seeks to block efforts to sell AI chips made by US companies to adversarial countries.
Wednesday's proclamation comes after the US added several countries to its Pax Silica initiative, which seeks strengthen the global supply chain of technology, equipment and minerals deemed necessary for AI development and other endeavours.
