Trump says US to levy 100% tariff on imported semiconductors

US President Donald Trump said the United States will impose a tariff of about 100% on imports of semiconductors but offered up a big exemption - it will not apply to companies that are manufacturing in the U.S. or have committed to do so, Reuters reports.

The move is part of Trump's efforts to bring manufacturing back to the United States, and his remarks on Wednesday were made in tandem with an announcement that Apple would be investing an additional $100 billion in its home market, Reuters reports.

The new pledge raises Apple's total domestic investment commitment in the U.S. to $600 billion over the next four years. Earlier this year, the company announced it would invest $500 billion and hire 20,000 workers across the country in that period.

For companies like Apple, which have committed to build in the United States, "there will be no charge," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, according to Reuters.

He warned, however, that companies should not try to wrangle out of pledges to build U.S. factories.

"If, for some reason, you say you're building and you don't build, then we go back and we add it up, it accumulates, and we charge you at a later date, you have to pay, and that's a guarantee," Trump added.

The comments were, however, not a formal tariff announcement, and much remains unclear about how companies and countries around the world will be impacted.

Trump's mention of the proposed 100% rate for chips came in just ahead of U.S. levies of 10% to 50% kicking in on Thursday for many goods from dozens of trading partners. Rates on semiconductors and other key tech goods have been the subject of a U.S. national security probe - the results of which are expected to be announced by mid-August.