President Trump is preparing to place tariffs beyond Chinese assembled electronics to computer chips made in Taiwan, warning the tariffs could reach as high as 100%.

MONTREAL, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Canadian helicopter parts supplier Optima Aero is already moving inventory south of the border to minimize the risk from potential tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Past US export controls curtailed the sale of sophisticated semiconductors to China. As Donald Trump takes office, the US looks set to expand the trade sanctions to block imports of older legacy chips, or “mature node” chips. While not as exciting as new cutting-edge AI semiconductors, these chips are used in almost all electronic devices, everything from car remotes to refrigerators.

Legislation to revoke China’s Permanent Normal Trade Relations was introduced Thursday by a bipartisan pair of House lawmakers, building on a Republican effort last year to repeal Beijing’s preferential trade status.

At first glance, the processor in the photo above appears to be a genuine Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. It sports AMD's uniquely-shaped integrated heatspreader (IHS) with grooves exposing the PCB on all four sides, it's labeled as a Ryzen 7 9800X3D chip, and it's the correct size. However, a closer examination reveals it's a counterfeit product, and apparently these fake CPUs are making the rounds in the China.

The global semiconductor industry has become a key source of global economic and geopolitical risks. Due to a combination of huge fixed costs, highly specialized human capital, and a high degree of geographic concentration at different stages of production, chipmaking exhibits extremely low substitutability throughout the value chain.

Beijing has issued a warning after the Biden administration's parting shot in the long-running tech war between the U.S. and China. Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security with an emailed request for comment.

Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) released two rules: one that updates export controls on advanced computing semiconductors, and another that places additional entities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Singapore on the Entity List.

Today, the United States is sanctioning nearly 250 enablers of Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine. As part of this action, the Department of State is designating more than 150 individuals and entities. Building on our January 10 targeting of Russia’s energy sector, today’s action aims to thwart sanctions evasion, particularly by actors based in the Peoples’s Republic of China (PRC), and to degrade Russia’s military industrial base.

Chinese firms spent 2024 on a semiconductor shopping spree, driving a double-digit increase in integrated circuit (IC) imports. This buying frenzy reflects growing concerns over the escalating tech rivalry between China and the U.S. and anticipation of the Biden administration’s stricter trade sanctions targeting China’s access to advanced chips.