Mark Zuckerberg, main enforcement serviceman of Meta Platforms Inc., and U.S. President Donald Trump during a meal with tech leaders successful the State Dining Room of the White House successful Washington, DC, U.S., connected Sept. 4, 2025.
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President Donald Trump has reiterated a informing that helium volition soon enforce "fairly substantial" tariffs connected semiconductor imports from companies that bash not displacement accumulation to the U.S., but volition spare firms similar Apple that grow investments domestically.
Trump made the comments Thursday nighttime during a meal astatine the White House with much than 2 twelve large tech leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle CEO Safra Catz.
"I've discussed it with the radical here, chips and semiconductors, and we'll beryllium putting tariffs connected companies that aren't coming in," the President said.
"We'll beryllium putting a tariff precise shortly. You astir apt are proceeding we'll beryllium putting a reasonably important tariff, oregon not that high, but a reasonably important tariff."
Trump had said past period during an lawsuit with Cook that helium would enforce a 100% tariff connected semiconductor imports, portion exempting products from companies that determination their manufacturing to the U.S. At the time, Apple pledged to walk an further $100 cardinal connected a home manufacturing initiative, adding connected a $500 cardinal announcement that Apple made successful February.
During Thursday's event, Trump noted that "Tim Cook would beryllium successful beauteous bully shape," regarding the imaginable import levies.
The U.S. has been moving to onshore its semiconductor proviso concatenation for galore years now. Since 2020, the world's largest semiconductor companies, specified arsenic TSMC and Samsung Electronics, person committed hundreds of billions of dollars to gathering plants successful the U.S.
Thus, these large semiconductor companies are expected to person exemptions nether Trump's imaginable tariffs. However, galore aspects of the tariffs and exceptions for companies investing successful the U.S. stay unclear.
Trump offered fewer details connected Thursday, saying simply that "if they're coming in, building, readying to travel in, determination volition not beryllium a tariff."
The remainder of the meal saw tech leaders from OpenAI's Sam Altman to Google co-founder Sergey Brin ablution praise connected the President for his pro-business and AI stances.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who had a public spat with Trump successful June this year, was not contiguous astatine the dinner. However, helium said connected his societal media level X that helium was invited, but could not attend, and that helium would nonstop a representative.
Before the dinner, archetypal woman Melania Trump made a code alongside elder Trump medication officials and tech CEOs for the 2nd gathering of the White House Task Force connected Artificial Intelligence Education.
The archetypal woman highlighted the value of AI successful acquisition and American progress, but that "we indispensable negociate AI's maturation responsibly."
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