TOKYO: Chip-related shares were down in early Asian trade on Thursday (Aug 7), after US President Donald Trump said he planned to impose a 100 per cent tariff on imported semiconductors.
Tokyo Electron, a major Japanese producer of chipmaking equipment, plunged 3.4 per cent as markets opened in Tokyo, and chipmaker Renesas was down 2.5 per cent.
In Seoul, chip giant SK Hynix plunged 2.9 per cent, while traders awaited the market’s opening bell in Taipei, where TSMC – the world’s largest contract maker of chips – is listed.
Trump said on Wednesday at the White House that “we’re going to be putting a very large tariff on chips and semiconductors”.
The level would be “100 per cent”, he told reporters, although he did not offer a timetable for the new levy being enacted.
Source: CNA
