How Tariffs Could Derail the United States’ $3 Trillion AI Buildout (Philip Luck – Center for Strategic & International Studies)

On Wednesday, Trump proposed a 100 percent tariff on semiconductors that could raise the cost of AI servers by as much as 75 percent, disrupting data center economics and pricing smaller firms out of frontier AI development. Current and proposed tariff policies already threaten $75–100 billion in additional AI infrastructure costs over five years, equivalent to 15–20 fewer hyperscale facilities. The United States’ competitive advantage lies in AI-enabled services that generate high-value exports, not semiconductor manufacturing, making infrastructure cost increases particularly damaging to U.S. economic interests.

How Tariffs Could Derail the United States’ $3 Trillion AI Buildout