The 'tricky balance' new tariffs are placing chipmakers in
The semiconductor industry, along with automobile and pharmaceutical imports, is one of the potential targets of President Trump's newly proposed 25% tariffs. "If you look in the semiconductor space, there’s a tremendous amount of innovation that is not related to the actual manufacturing, which is really what say companies like AMD (AMD) and Qualcomm (QCOM) sell, and they're looking at companies like [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] (TSM) for manufacturing," Lopez Research founder Maribel Lopez says on the landscape's focus on innovation over manufacturing. However, shifting production to the US is not an immediate solution, as Lopez states, "it is physically impossible" to build new foundries quickly. This means the industry faces a tricky balance of continuing innovation while navigating the complexities of global operations. Businesses must find ways to manage this transition over time while also negotiating with international partners. "So, we've had the opening volley to say negotiations start now. We need to get a plan between now and April to make that happen,'" Lopez concludes. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Morning Brief here. This post was written by Josh Lynch
