Fresh US tariffs shake up Asian chip stocks

Donald Trump's threat to impose 100 percent tariffs on semiconductor imports shook up Asian chip firms Thursday but sector giants TSMC and Samsung were boosted after he pledged to exempt those who invest in the United States.

The US president made his warning ahead of the imposition of sweeping tariffs on goods from dozens of countries, and comes amid a global race to develop high-end chips used for artificial intelligence.

"We'll be putting a tariff of approximately 100 percent on chips and semiconductors, but if you're building in the United States... there's no charge," he said at the White House.

He did not give a timetable for the new levy being enacted.

In Japanese trade, Tokyo Electron, a major producer of chipmaking equipment, plunged 3.2 percent on the news, while chipmaker Renesas sank 3.4 percent.

Precision tools maker Disco Corporation gave up 1.3 percent and Sumco, which makes silicon wafers, lost 1.2 percent.

However, Taipei-listed TSMC -- world's largest contract maker of chips, which counts Nvidia and Apple among its clients -- soared nearly five percent as Taiwan said it would not be affected by the new tariffs.

"Because Taiwan's main exporter is TSMC, which has factories in the United States, TSMC is exempt," National Development Council chief Liu Chin-ching said in parliament.

Some Taiwanese chipmakers "will be affected" by the 100 percent tariff, but their competitors will also face the same levy, he added.

Samsung Electronics, which is pumping billions into the United States, rose two percent in Seoul.

South Korean chip giant SK hynix was flat.

"The highest-end semiconductors will be excluded" but "this kills producers of low-end chips", including those based in Malaysia or China, Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at Natixis, told AFP.

Arisa Liu, senior semiconductor researcher at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, said the announcement "will impact the future strategic direction of global semiconductor companies".

"Since the United States is the world's largest player in AI and related high-performance computing, this will have a relatively greater impact on companies involved in advanced processes," she said.

But Samsung and TSMC should be eligible for the exemption, she added.

Apple announced Wednesday that it will invest an additional $100 billion in the United States, taking its total pledge to $600 billion over the next four years. TSMC also plans to invest an additional $100 billion in the United States.