Anchor: With his reciprocal tariffs in effect, U.S. President Donald Trump says his government will impose an item-specific tariff of about 100 percent on chips and semiconductors. As Trump calls for commitments to manufacture chips in his country in return for tariff exemptions, South Korean chipmakers are already working on relocating some of their production to the U.S. The American president warns that there will be consequences if they fail to deliver. 
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: U.S. President Donald Trump says he’s charging a 100 percent tariff on semiconductors imported to his country. 

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump] 
“We’ll be putting a tariff of approximately 100 percent on chips and semiconductors. But if you’re building in the United States of America, there’s no charge …”

Trump floated the plan in the Oval Office on Wednesday as he stood next to Apple CEO Tim Cook, who announced another 100 billion dollar investment in the U.S.

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump] 
“If you’ve made a commitment to build, or if you’re in the process of building, as many are, there is no tariff. OK? If for some reason you say you’re building and you don’t build, then we go back and add it up, it accumulates, and we charge you at a later date. You have to pay, and that’s a guarantee.”

With the American president seeking foreign investment and the revival of U.S. manufacturing, Samsung Electronics has invested 37 billion dollars in a new chip fabrication plant in Texas.

SK hynix has announced plans to spend some four billion dollars for an advanced chip packaging plant and research and development facility in Indiana.

Appearing on a local radio program Thursday, Seoul’s Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said the two South Korean chipmakers will not be subject to the 100 percent rate under the latest trade deal with the U.S.

He said South Korea will enjoy “most favored nation” treatment when Washington calculates the import duties.

Semiconductors are second only to automobiles among the country’s top export items to the U.S.
 
Last year, South Korea shipped about ten-point-six billion dollars’ worth of semiconductor products to the U.S.

Amid concerns that tariffs on chips will raise production costs for electronics, cars and home appliances, Trump told CNBC that he plans to announce sector-specific tariffs “within the next week or so.”
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.