The Trump Administration is threatening bruising 25% tariffs against major trade partners Japan and South Korea, setting off another wave of panic throughout the tech industry and elsewhere.

On Monday, the president said he would slap a 25% tax on goods imported from Japan and South Korea starting Aug. 1, citing persistent trade imbalances with the two crucial U.S. allies and home to tech behemoths such as Samsung Electronics (South Korea) and Sony Corp. (Japan).

If the current tariff rates remain in place, the impact on both Samsung and Sony will be “notable,” says Ray Wang, research director, semiconductors, supply chain, and emerging technology, at The Futurum Group. For Sony, approximately 30% of its revenue comes from the U.S. A 25% tariff on Japanese imports would likely compress margins on many of its products, especially in consumer electronics and entertainment hardware, he said in an email.

Samsung’s situation is more complex, he added. A large portion of its consumer electronics manufacturing is distributed across countries like Vietnam and Brazil, which still face various tariff challenges when exporting to the U.S. “The impact of tariff on this should be relatively lower but it will still potentially impact firm’s over margin and sales performance in the coming quarter,” Wang said in a Slack message. “For its semiconductor business, the risks could be even more acute — if chips are not granted exemptions under the newly announced tariffs or upcoming Section 232 sectoral measures, Samsung may face significant cost pressures and potential disruption in U.S.-bound supply chains. This include company’s most important DRAM and NAND business.”

Trump was blunt in his message to leaders of both countries. “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 25% that we charge,” Trump said in form letters to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung that he shared on Truth Social, adding that goods transshipped from another country to avoid tariffs would face an even higher rate.

Transshipment has been a thorny topic for Trump, and a key provision in a trade agreement with Vietnam last week. China has historically rerouted its America-bound goods through Vietnam, for example.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the daily news briefing Monday that similar letters to a dozen countries would be issued shortly. She didn’t mention any country by name but said “keep your eyes on Truth Social.” [Trump later announced tariffs on a dozen trade partners, led by Myanmar and Laos (40% rate), Thailand and Cambodia (36%), and Bangladesh and Serbia (35%).]

The press secretary confirmed Trump would sign an executive order to delay his overall suite of “reciprocal” tariffs from the current July 8 deadline until Aug. 1.

The new rates align with what Trump announced on “Liberation Day” in early April before imposing a 90-day pause that was scheduled to expire Tuesday. Under Trump’s initial rates set in early April, U.S. imports from Japan faced a 24% tariff and South Korean imports a 25% tariff.

Trump is confident that tariffs are necessary to bring back domestic manufacturing and fund the tax cuts he signed into law last week. The president has been on a messianic mission with Apple Inc., for instance, to move its manufacturing to the U.S. from China and India.

According to the Census Bureau, the U.S. incurred a $69.4 billion trade imbalance in goods with Japan in 2024 and a $66 billion imbalance with South Korea.

Imposing steep tariffs against both countries, however, would be “unfortunate,” trade experts argue.

“Both have been close partners on economic security matters and have a lot to offer the United States on priority matters like shipbuilding, semiconductors, critical minerals and energy cooperation,” said Wendy Cutler, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. “Moreover, companies from both countries have made significant manufacturing investments in the U.S. in recent years, bringing high-paying jobs to U.S. workers and benefiting communities all around the country.”