Donald Trump may be preparing to announce sweeping new semiconductor tariffs, a move that tech industry insiders fear could be the “single dumbest way imaginable” to proceed. On Thursday, Politico reported that a wide range of new semiconductor tariffs could be imposed in the coming weeks or months, potentially hitting everything from gaming consoles to data center servers.
According to the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), such a tariff approach would cost the US about $90 billion annually in GDP losses and could delay or cancel around 20 percent of data center projects planned through 2030. The CCIA estimates that tariffs could drive more data center development outside the US, seemingly working against Trump’s goal of boosting domestic development.
Most absurdly, the tariffs could disrupt the momentum of data centers and have wide-ranging ripple effects if certain products aren’t exempted. In a May letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the CCIA warned that such tariffs could impact a variety of tech products, potentially even including used or refurbished items that contain chips.
The tech industry’s nightmare scenario is a reality if these tariffs go through, with significant implications for the future of AI innovation and data center expansion in the US.
