U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Sunday local time that the Trump administration would announce the results of a national security investigation into semiconductor imports within two weeks, while U.S. President Trump hinted at imminent imposition of higher tariffs on chips. Lutnick told reporters after Trump met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the investigation was one of the "key reasons" for the EU to seek to negotiate a broader trade deal that would "address all the issues at once."
Trump said many companies will invest in semiconductor manufacturing in the United States to avoid being hit by new tariffs. He said von der Leyen had avoided impending chip tariffs "in a better way."
Trump and von der Leyen announced a new framework trade agreement that includes a comprehensive 15% tariff on EU goods entering the United States. Trump said the deal includes cars.
The Trump administration said in April that it was investigating whether widespread reliance on foreign imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors posed a national security threat.
The investigation, conducted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, could lay the groundwork for new tariffs on imports from the two industries.
The Trump administration has begun separate investigations into copper and lumber imports under the same law.