Washington, May 23 (IANS) US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said that there were no immediate semiconductor tariffs coming, according to a report, though he underscored the importance of protecting America’s chip sector.

Greer made the remarks at Micron Technology’s memory chip plant expansion project outside Washington, Reuters reported, apparently referring to sectoral duties on chip imports that might come after national security investigations under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

“So, having tariffs on semiconductors is really important. What’s even more important than having protection for facilities like this, is making sure we do it on the right timing and in the ‌right amount,” Greer was quoted by Reuters as saying, reports Yonhap news agency.

“There was not an immediate tariff coming,” he added.

In August, Trump threatened to impose a tariff of about 100 percent on semiconductors, as South Korean tech firms Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., have been carefully watching his tariff policy developments.

In last year’s joint fact sheet on trade and security agreements between Seoul and Washington, the U.S. agreed to offer semiconductor tariff rates that are “no less favourable” than terms that may be offered to a partner with chip trade volumes as large as South Korea’s.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump’s administration said it will seek “separate” semiconductor tariff agreements for “separate countries, after the United States and Taiwan reached a deal on the chip levies.

“Separate agreements for separate countries,” a U.S. official said, responding to a question from Yonhap News Agency regarding whether the deal with Taiwan would set a standard for chip tariffs or the U.S. would conduct separate negotiations with other countries for the sectoral tariffs.

The official’s remarks came after the U.S. Commerce Department released a fact sheet about a trade and investment deal between the United States and Taiwan, which outlined a bilateral agreement on semiconductor tariffs.

—IANS

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