With tariffs wreaking havoc on markets and threatening to disrupt companies, President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with a group of hardware tech executives next week.
The CEOs of IBM Corp., HP Inc., Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc., and other unnamed industry giants are scheduled to meet with the president and administration representatives on Monday, according to a Bloomberg report that cited people familiar with the matter.
Tariffs and stringent export rules that could blow holes in the sales and profitability of the multibillion-dollars companies is likely to headline the agenda. “Some of the topics top of mind for our leadership team are trade policy and U.S. manufacturing,” an HP official told Bloomberg. [The other companies were not immediately available for comment.]
The reported meeting comes amid concerns over steep (and shifting) tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada, and tech export regulations that could upend global supply chains at a time when companies are ramping up investments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Adding to the tension, during a speech to Congress on Tuesday, Trump beseeched House Majority Leader Mike Johnson, R-La., to revoke the CHIPS and Science Act (2022) which included $75 billion in government lending and $39 billion in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and related components to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. Intel, with $7.9 billion in funding, is a primary benefactor.
“The CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing. They take our money and they don’t spend it,” Trump said. “You should get rid of the CHIPS Act and whatever is left over, Mr. Speaker, you should use it to reduce debt.”
One element of tariffs tech leaders want clarity on is export restrictions, if any, on advanced AI data centers, which are being constructed worldwide. The Trump Administration is formulating an AI action plan to “sustain and enhance” America’s standing in the field, though details remain murky at best.
Leading American tech companies have taken steps to minimize the blow of tariffs with massive manufacturing plans after recently meeting with Trump. Apple Inc. has earmarked $500 billion over four years to build out facilities throughout the U.S., while Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Amazon.com Inc. have all vowed to spend tens of billions of dollars on data centers, AI research and job hiring.
Trump, meanwhile, has hosted a handful of events to tout manufacturing projects in the U.S., spotlighted by the OpenAI-Oracle Corp.-SoftBank-led $500 billion Stargate over the next four years. Earlier this week, Trump met with chipmaker TSMC to announce an additional $100 billion in U.S. plant expansion.
