On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced his intention to impose 100% customs duties on imports of electronic chips and semi -conductors coming from countries that do not produce these components within the United States or do not plan to establish local production factories, in a move aimed at supporting the local industry and motivating international companies to manufacture within American territory.
During his meeting with the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, at the Oval Office, Trump said: “We will impose 100%fees, but companies that are produced locally will not include these fees,” stressing that this policy comes in response to the experience of severe shortfalls during the Kofid-19 quarrel, which contributed to the high prices of cars and the exacerbation of global inflation.
The data of the Global Semiconductor Trade Organization (WSTS) indicates that global demand for chips increased by 19.6% during the end of last June, which reflects the increasing importance of this vital sector in the digital economy.
According to the Associated Press, this trend represents a fundamental shift in Trump’s policy, as it depends on what is known as the “stick of the stick” by imposing the fees, in exchange for the “carrot” strategy based on incentives, as in the administration of former President Joe Biden, which was approved in 2022 the “chips and science” law, which allocated more than 50 billion dollars to support the construction of factories, research and training Competencies.
Economic sources believe that the new Trump policy may lead to an increase in the prices of electronic devices and consumer products such as mobile phones, TVs and refrigerators, if the proposed customs duties are passed, which puts challenges for companies and consumers.
Earlier on Wednesday, a White House official said that Apple will announce its pledge to local manufacturing operations worth $ 100 billion, which will focus on increasing manufacturing in the United States.
The official, who stated that his identity was not disclosed, indicated that the pledge will be a new financial commitment in addition to what Apple has already pledged previously, according to “Reuters.”
Apple said in February that it will spend $ 500 billion in US investments in the next four years, which will include a giant factory in Texas for artificial intelligence servers, with the addition of about 20,000 jobs in the field of research and development throughout the country.
