Toronto, (Reuters) .- The new tariffs of President Donald Trump could cost the manufacturers of semiconductor equipment more than 1,000 million dollars a year, according to industry calculations discussed with officials and legislators in Washington last week, two sources familiar with the matter said.
Each of the three largest manufacturers of EU chips equipment -Applyed Materials, Lam Research and Kla -could suffer losses of approximately 350 million dollars in a year due to tariffs, according to sources. Smaller competitors such as Onto Innovation could also face tens of millions of dollars in additional expenses.
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Companies build some of the most requested chips manufacturing equipment in the world, which may require thousands of specialized parts.
Chip equipment manufacturers have already lost billions of dollars in revenues after US former president Joe Biden implemented a series of export controls aimed at curbing the sending of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese entities.
The Trump administration has largely suspended the reciprocal tariffs announced in April. However, to boost US manufacturing, it is considering imposing more tariffs on the chips industry and initiated an investigation into its imports on Monday.
The estimated costs, discussed last week in Washington, include the loss of income, mainly for the non -sale of less sophisticated equipment to foreign competitors, and the costs of finding and using alternative suppliers for the complex components of chips manufacturing tools. The estimate also includes tariff compliance costs, such as the hiring of personnel to manage the complexities of compliance with the standards.
Administration legislators and officials discussed the costs of tariffs with chips industry executives and semi officials, an international commercial group, as part of an ongoing dialogue.
Applied did not respond to a request for comments. Kla and Lam declined to comment.
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The initial, approximate, 350 million dollars per company could change as the Trump administration tariffs enter into force. It is difficult to perform fast calculations because each tool for chips manufacture has multiple components and the definitive tariff regime is not clear.
The Biden Administration took energetic measures against the Chinese chips industry for three years to limit its ability to produce the latest generation chips used in artificial intelligence, military applications or other forms that could threaten the national security of the United States.
American export controls have driven China to invest in their national chip equipment industry.
With Reuters information
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