The us trade representative's office recently announced a 25 per cent tariff on about $34bn of Chinese imports, including semiconductors.

The tariff will take effect from July 6, 2018, covering the U.S. imports from China testing, testing equipment and spare parts and other products, originally proposed by semiconductor products are still about 80% in the final duty list.

USTR also proposed additional tariffs on goods listing of more than $16 billion, including chemical and used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, wafer, flat panel display and light cover of machine and spare parts, all of which will directly affect the semiconductor industry. The products identified in the new list are particularly benefiting from China's industrial policies, such as "made in China 2025". SEMI will oppose the duties with written comments and an upcoming public hearing.

Over the past month, SEMI submitted written comments and provided evidence of the damaging effects of tariffs on the us semiconductor industry. While SEMI strongly supports efforts to better protect valuable intellectual property rights, we do not believe these tariffs will help address U.S. concerns about China's trade practices. Instead, tariffs hurt companies in the semiconductor supply chain by increasing business costs, introducing uncertainty and stifling innovation.

A $34 billion tariff is coming into effect, and a $16 billion proposal is still in the works. SEMI will continue to engage with lawmakers, and we recommend that SEMI member companies review this list of tariffs to assess their impact on themselves.