Central planning

Jack Nicastro | 1.20.2026 10:08 AM

On January 14, President Donald Trump issued an executive order slapping a 25 percent import tariff on advanced semiconductors commonly used in AI data centers.

Trump imposed the duty in response to a Commerce Department investigation that concluded imported semiconductors "threaten to impair the national security of the United States." The order specifies that the importation of "semiconductors that enable artificial intelligence (AI) [poses] a threat to the national security."

Given the AI industry's insatiable demand for advanced chips, 90 percent of which are fabricated abroad by the Taiwan........

© Reason.com