Import tariffs are expected to add billions of dollars to the cost of industrial data centers catering to artificial intelligence (AI) development, according to an analysis by Altana, a provider of global supply chain data.
Altana’s research found that based on proposed tariff rates, U.S. importers are projected to incur $13.6 billion worth of additional tariff exposure annually. Tariff exposure varies widely, depending on what components are used and the country of origin. But Altana expects that if the 145% tariffs remain on imports from China, those imports would add $11.2 billion to the cost of building AI data centers.
Thanks to cloud computing and the rise of AI, data centers have been a major driver of commercial real estate in recent years. CBRE estimates that the primary data center market increased by 34% year over year in 2024. Additionally, the deployment of Project Stargate, a $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank, is expected to build 20 large AI data centers in the U.S. during the next five years.
Most of the increased tariff costs will come from components vital to AI center builds, including air conditioning supplies, fiber optic cables, automatic computing and more. Altana estimates that imports for electric static converters, commonly used to keep AI data centers cool, will rise in cost from $5.5 billion in 2024 to $7.4 billion this year.
Fiber optic cables and other electric parts will cost an additional $1.1 billion and automatic computing software, such as data processing machines, will incur $3.9 billion in tariff charges, more than doubling the cost of such equipment.
These costs will change, depending on the level of tariffs on various imports. The Trump administration announced tariffs as high as 245% on certain Chinese goods, while China responded with a 145% tariff on imports of certain U.S. goods.
More recently, President Donald Trump said he would lower tariffs on Chinese imports “at some point,” but he was not willing to say when.
Despite the heated rhetoric, there may be a thaw in negotiations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that high-level trade talks with China would begin this weekend in Switzerland.
