On April 15, according to CNBC, the U.S. Department of Commerce is conducting a national security investigation into the import of semiconductor technology and related downstream products. Official documents call on the public to comment on the investigation, further confirming that the chip and electronics supply chains will not be excluded from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plan, although Trump said Friday that many of these products are not subject to their “reciprocal tariffs.”

As part of the investigation, the U.S. Department of Commerce will investigate the “feasibility of increasing domestic semiconductor capacity” to reduce reliance on imports and whether additional trade measures, including tariffs, are “necessary to protect national security.” The survey covers a wide range of chip components such as silicon wafers, chip manufacturing equipment, and "downstream products containing semiconductors." Semiconductors play a role in almost every type of modern electronics, so the survey has a significant impact on Trump's global trade war seeking to boost U.S. manufacturing.

Despite the exemption for a range of electronics, Trump and some of his officials said over the weekend that the exemption was only temporary and part of a separate tariff plan to impose a separate tariff on the industry.