ZAK STOREY
LAB NOTES
Tariffs and tech
The TSMC problem
A FLAT IMPORT TARIFF
on goods manufactured outside the US could seriously harm the PC industry.
A tariff is a tax or cost charged to domestic buyers who purchase goods from outside of the tariff-imposing country. US Company A buys product B from Chinese company C, and they (A) have to pay an additional X amount to the state after purchase, depending on the percentage. That cost is absorbed into the price of the product. Their logic is fairly solid when they’re applied strategically and on items or categories that can be manufactured domestically, encouraging local production.
From what we can currently tell, that’s not how these are going to be implemented. Rather, they’ll be a flat rate on all goods from certain nations. That’s not terrible, until you consider some of the more specific ramifications on certain specialist goods.
It’s been hinted that mainland China is going to receive a 60 percent tariff. Although we haven’t had confirmation on if Taiwan will be impacted, the incoming administration has expressed grievances in the past. In an interview with Fox News in 2023, the president-elect suggested that the US should apply a tariff for taking the bulk of the US’s chip manufacturing out of the country. That’s a problem, as almost every chip design company uses TSMC to manufacture their latest processors.