The Biden administration is set to double tariffs on Chinese made semiconductors, potentially leading to more expensive PC hardware

HardwareThe Biden administration is set to double tariffs on Chinese made semiconductors, potentially leading to more expensive PC hardwareWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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US President Joe Biden holds up a computer chip before signing a government review of supply chains.(Image credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

U.S. President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor before signing an executive order in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.

US President Joe Biden holds up a computer chip before signing a government review of supply chains.

Just about every other day there’s a new development in the escalating tech war between China and the US. Whether it’sblocking the servicing of advanced chip making equipment in China, or theblocking of Windows and Intel and AMD chips from Chinese government systems, it’s a never ending merry go round of tit-for-tat measures and retaliations.

Debating the merits of tariffs and the political aspects of this move are beyond the scope of this article, but it is accepted that the burden of these tariff increases will fall upon the US consumer, and that means we could be looking at a situation where the prices of the hardware we know and love will be forced upwards in price.

Peak Storage(Image credit: Future)Best SSD for gaming: The best speedy storage today.Best NVMe SSD: Compact M.2 drives.Best external hard drives: Huge capacities for less.Best external SSDs: Plug-in storage upgrades.

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(Image credit: Future)Best SSD for gaming: The best speedy storage today.Best NVMe SSD: Compact M.2 drives.Best external hard drives: Huge capacities for less.Best external SSDs: Plug-in storage upgrades.

(Image credit: Future)

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The proposed tariffs are not just set to impact the market for Chinese chips, they will be applied to steel and aluminum, electric vehicles and batteries, solar cells and medical products.

If there’s one thing that’s sure to happen, it’s that the Chinese government will respond in kind. That’s the nature of a trade war. And consumers as a whole will end up bearing the cost.

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