US companies' datacenter troubles may be just getting bigger

American technology giants pouring billions into artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure may soon encounter an obstacle at home: a proposed expansion of US tariffs that may significantly elevate the cost of building data centres. According to a report by The Politico, the Trump administration is weighing a sweeping round of duties on semiconductors. Citing eight people familiar with the discussions, the report says that the plan under review will broaden import taxes beyond bare chips to include finished hardware such as servers, consumer laptops and gaming systems.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is said to be advocating for a framework that links tariff exemptions for foreign firms to commitments to invest in domestic fabrication plants, with an additional phase-in period under review.It is noteworthy that Trump has targeted Europe, China and Canada with a series of tariffs and trade pressures that have escalated tensions between the nations.