Trump's Tariffs May Cost US Chip Equipment Makers Over $1 Billion

According to foreign media reports, informed sources recently stated that based on industry estimates, the new tariff policy implemented by US President Trump could cost US semiconductor equipment manufacturers over $1 billion annually.

Sources indicated that the three major US chip equipment manufacturers—Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA—could each incur losses of approximately $350 million annually due to tariffs. Smaller chip industry companies, such as Onto Innovation, are also expected to face additional cost pressures amounting to tens of millions of US dollars.

The additional costs imposed on US chip equipment manufacturers by the new tariffs mainly fall into three categories: first, revenue losses primarily due to the inability to sell lower-tech equipment to overseas competitors; second, additional costs incurred from finding alternative suppliers for complex parts used in chip manufacturing equipment; and third, tariff compliance expenses, including the cost of assigning additional personnel to handle complex compliance matters.

The preliminary estimate of $350 million in losses per company is only an early rough figure, and this number may change as the Trump administration's tariff policies are officially implemented. Given that each chip manufacturing equipment consists of numerous parts and the final tariff details are not yet clear, it is difficult to quickly calculate an accurate figure. Some of the chip manufacturing equipment produced by these companies are among the most sought-after products globally, with a single piece of equipment potentially requiring thousands of specialized components.

In response to the above reports, Applied Materials did not respond to requests for comment, while KLA and Lam Research declined to comment.

As part of ongoing dialogues, US lawmakers and government officials discussed tariff costs with chip industry executives and officials from the international industry organization SEMI, leading to the aforementioned data.

Although the Trump administration has largely suspended the reciprocal tariffs announced in April, to boost the domestic manufacturing sector, US authorities are considering imposing additional tariffs on the semiconductor industry and have recently initiated a review process for the import of related equipment.

Following the implementation of a series of export control measures by former US President Biden aimed at restricting the export of advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Chinese entities, in an attempt to curb China's development of cutting-edge chip manufacturing capabilities, US chip equipment manufacturers have already lost billions of dollars in revenue.

However, these export restrictions have instead spurred China to increase its investment in the domestic chip equipment industry.