LONDON, April 7. /TASS/. The policy pursued by US President Donald Trump of imposing tariffs on all imports may jeopardize the country’s leadership in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data storage and processing, the Financial Times wrote citing experts.
According to data from Bank of America, in 2024, electricity costs in the United States were already rising at twice the pace of inflation, with certain electricity suppliers in various parts of the country requesting regulatory approval for rate increases of 10% or more. Experts anticipate that Trump's tariffs will accelerate the growth of energy costs for businesses, especially for AI centers and data storage and processing facilities, which are notable for their extremely high energy consumption.
AI projects are also likely to be impacted by rising battery costs, as batteries are one of the key components for data centers.
On April 2, Trump announced the introduction of customs tariffs on goods from 185 countries and territories. Russia was not included in this list. A universal tariff of 10% came into effect on April 5, while individual tariffs will be applied starting April 9. In addition, beginning April 3, the US administration imposed a 25% tariff on all imported cars.