Trump Imposes High Tariffs to Combat Mining Machine Imports: China Faces 57% Duty, Southeast Asia Increased to 21%
Trump Promotes New Tariff Policy on Bitcoin Mining Machines Imported from Southeast Asia
On July 31, Trump pushed for a new round of tariff policies, officially imposing high “reciprocal tariffs” on Bitcoin mining machines imported from Southeast Asia. Subsequently, on August 7, he decided to raise tariffs on major manufacturing countries of ASIC mining machines, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, while also increasing sanctions on Chinese operators. Industry insiders pointed out that many U.S. miners are considering relocating their operations to Canada and other countries, and even Chinese operators are planning to establish factories in the United States to respond to the changing situation.
New Tariff of 21% Imposed on Southeast Asian Mining Machines
On April 2, the Trump administration officially promoted reciprocal tariffs, announcing a comprehensive adjustment of the import tariff structure and initiating a 90-day grace period for tariffs on multiple products, including mining machines.
According to documents from U.S. miner Luxor Technology, the Trump administration finalized a new tariff plan on August 7, imposing a 21.6% tariff on major manufacturing countries of ASIC mining machines, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, while Chinese mining machines are subjected to a high tariff of 57.6%.
Luxor Technology pointed out that the U.S. has now become one of the least cost-effective countries for importing mining machines, leading many miners to consider shifting their business to Canada and other countries with lower tariffs.
Shift of Production Locations Benefits U.S. Second-Hand Mining Machine Prices
Faced with significantly increased import costs for mining machines, Luxor has partnered with Chinese mining machine manufacturer MicroBT to launch a local manufacturing plan, aiming to help U.S. customers avoid high tariffs. Not only are new machines being produced locally, but Luxor also anticipates that the prices of second-hand mining machines within the United States will increase as a result:
“We estimate that prices will rise by at least 20%, which is a windfall for miners who already have inventory.”
That said, Singapore-listed miner BitFuFu believes that the low electricity prices and high proportion of green energy in the U.S. still allow for favorable mining costs. They emphasize that the company has established local partnerships in states such as Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado; even if equipment becomes more expensive, they can absorb the costs and continue to expand.
Trump’s Support for the Mining Industry is at Odds with Actual Policies
Although Trump vocally promotes making the U.S. a “Bitcoin mining powerhouse,” after entering the White House, he has repeatedly introduced high tariff policies that have instead placed immense pressure on the importation of mining machines and the operations of local miners. The stock prices of relevant publicly listed companies have also suffered at times. For instance, U.S. miners MARA Holdings, Riot Platforms, and Bitfarms saw their stock prices drop by 8.3%, 8.7%, and 5%, respectively, following Trump’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs on April 2.
Previously, Luxor had warned:
“If the U.S. solidifies the tariff rates, Russia may emerge as the biggest winner, as Chinese capital will shift to Russia, while European and American investors will turn to Canada, Scandinavia, Ethiopia, and Latin America.”
Regarding the potential for mass production of mining machines in the U.S., Luxor admitted that while a small number are currently assembled domestically, most components still come from Asia. Achieving complete manufacturing from raw materials to finished machines in the U.S. may take several more years. Luxor is also continuously lobbying the Trump administration, hoping to have mining machines exempted from tariffs under the “HTSUS 8471” provision similar to laptops and servers. They concluded their remarks with:
“If Trump truly wants to support the domestic mining industry, the policies need to catch up.”
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