ASM weighs shifting production in response to tariffs

Depending on how tariffs play out, ASM may shift production load between manufacturing locations. “We can act very quickly, almost immediately, to have some products produced locally in the US to the extent needed,” CFO Paul Verhagen told analysts on the Q1 earnings call, adding that completion of a new facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, would expand US capacity. Currently, the Almere-headquartered equipment manufacturer’s main production base is located in Singapore.

Verhagen noted, however, that local production in the US wouldn’t necessarily be more efficient. “It might be, it might not be because today, we import most – if not all – of our tools, which, based on the initial announcements, were in the lowest tariff bucket. And once we start producing locally, you import parts, modules and subsystems from different countries with different tariffs. So it might very well be that continuing to produce where we produce today might still be more efficient.”

As tariffs solidify, ASM will find the optimal supply chain solution “to mitigate the financial impact” as much as possible.