TSMC, Samsung + SK hynix also exempt from Trump's 100% tariffs like NVIDIA + Apple

South Korea has confirmed that its big tech powerhouse companies -- Samsung and SK hynix -- are exempt from President Trump's 100% tariffs on semiconductors. Taiwan has also said TSMC is exempt from the tariffs, too.

The Trump administration unveiled punitive sectoral tariffs for the semiconductor industry yesterday, removing the sting of the levy by exempting companies that are already either in the middle of building, or have committed to building semiconductor facilities on American soil.

President Trump then confirmed that there would be levy-exempt status stamped onto Apple and NVIDIA, as the two US-based tech companies have hundreds of billions of dollars of investments inside of the US.

At the White House, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced another $100 billion of investment into US semiconductor manufacturing, bringing Apple's total US investments to over $600 billion, also announcing the company's new American Manufacturing Program (AMP) and plans to build an end-to-end silicon supply chain on American soil.

South Korea has announced its silicon powerhouses Samsung and SK hynix are exempt from Trump's new semiconductor tariffs, with Samsung investing $45 billion on US-based semiconductor fab plants, an R&D center, and a packaging facility planned for 2030. SK hynix has invested $3.87 billion in Indiana to build a new memory packaging plant for AI products, and an advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility on American soil.

Taiwan has also said that TSMC is exempt from Trump's semiconductor tariffs, so all of the super-huge, major tech companies are safe from semiconductor tariffs -- Apple, NVIDIA, SK hynix, Samsung, and TSMC.