Business & Economics
U.S. Adopts “Separate Deals” Approach After Taiwan Chip Tariff Accord
Within 48 hours of unveiling a tariff-exemption formula for Taiwanese chipmakers, the Trump administration said every other semiconductor-exporting nation will face tailor-made negotiations—or tariffs as high as 100 %—rather than a single global standard.
Focusing Facts
- Taiwan pact (fact sheet 15 Jan 2026) lets firms import up to 2.5× planned U.S. fab capacity duty-free during construction and 1.5× once the plant is running.
- Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned on 16 Jan 2026 that countries refusing to build fabs in the U.S. will confront a 100 % semiconductor tariff.
- President Trump’s 14 Jan 2026 proclamation already slapped a 25 % tariff on certain AI-grade semiconductors imported and then re-exported from the U.S.
Context
Washington last tried something similar in the 1986 U.S.–Japan Semiconductor Agreement, when threats of 100 % duties coerced Toshiba and NEC into price floors and local production; today’s playbook is the same but the stakes are larger because chips now anchor everything from AI weapons to electric cars. This episode fits a decades-long drift—from the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff to the 2022 CHIPS Act—toward tying national security directly to industrial location. By insisting on country-by-country bargains, the U.S. is weaponising market access to force on-shore investment, accelerating the fragmentation of what was once a single, scale-driven global supply chain. A century from now the moment may be viewed either as the tipping point that regionalised the semiconductor ecosystem—like oil after the 1973 embargo—or as another short-lived protectionist surge that crumbled once costs and innovation pressures reasserted global integration.
Perspectives
South Korean government-affiliated media
Yonhap News Agency, KBS WORLD Radio — They stress that Trump’s separate-country chip tariff strategy will have only a "limited" immediate impact on Korean memory-chip makers and can be managed through continued negotiations. By highlighting officials’ reassurance and playing down looming ‘second-stage’ tariffs, they may be seeking to quell domestic anxiety and present Seoul’s trade diplomacy as effective.
South Korean conservative business press
Chosun.com, Chosunbiz — They frame the U.S. stance as an explicit threat of “100 % semiconductor tariffs” that puts intense pressure on Korea to pour far more investment into U.S. fabs, warning Seoul’s existing $41 billion pledges may not buy safety. The alarm-laden language accentuates U.S. coercion and uncertainty, likely to criticize the Korean government’s negotiating power and stir concern among industry readers.
International news aggregators reprinting wire copy
SocialNews.XYZ, newKerala.com — They present the U.S. official line at face value, noting simply that Washington will pursue ‘separate agreements for separate countries’ following its Taiwan deal. Because they mostly relay wire text without added context, they omit country-specific stakes or criticisms, leaving readers with a U.S.-centric framing that underplays possible repercussions for other producers.