US Bitcoin Miners | Tariff Pressures and High Difficulty

The U.S. bitcoin mining industry is getting squeezed as tariffs, rising costs, and record difficulty are eating into profits. In August 2025, the U.S. introduced new tariffs on imports from China, which affect bitcoin mining equipment.

The new tariffs add 57.6% to the cost of imports of Chinese-made machines and 21.6% on machines from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The tariffs, part of President Donald Trump’s trade war with Asia, have already created huge liabilities for some U.S.-based miners.

According to MinerMag, two of the biggest players, CleanSpark and IREN (Iris Energy) disclosed that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent them invoices for equipment imported from China.

CleanSpark said it could face up to $185 million in tariffs, IREN is contesting claims of around $100 million.

These tariffs have increased costs and complicated logistics for operators, who are reporting on the disputes. Analysts say the liabilities could reshape balance sheets across the sector, with operators having to rethink how they source and finance equipment.

The tariff issue comes at a tough time for miners. Bitcoin’s network difficulty hit a record 129 trillion in August 2025, reflecting the influx of more efficient hardware and the growth of industrial-scale farms. While the network gets stronger, profitability is suffering.

The Hashprice Index, or estimated daily revenue per unit of computing power, is stuck at around $55 per petahash per second (PH/s). Miners are earning less for the same work compared to earlier in the cycle.

Transaction fees have dropped below 1% of block rewards, so miners have to rely almost entirely on the fixed block subsidy of 3.125 BTC.

This combination of higher costs, lower margins, and tariff uncertainty has made operations more fragile.

Analysts say weaker players may exit the industry. Revenue pressure may lead to a shakeout in the industry, with higher cost operators scaling back or offloading assets, creating opportunities for more efficient miners to take their place.

The tariffs are also affecting the broader digital asset market. Bitcoin’s price recently dropped below $113,000, partly due to tariffs and turbulence in global markets. Exchanges saw hefty liquidations during that period, showing how policy changes can create volatility.

U.S.-listed mining stocks have reflected the uncertainty.

Companies tied to Bitcoin mining, like CleanSpark and Marathon, are down, while companies diversifying into high-performance computing (HPC) or artificial intelligence infrastructure are doing relatively better.

Related: Bitcoin Miners are Switching to AI and HPC | Report

Despite all this, many are adjusting. Some are investing in energy efficiency, immersion cooling, and more efficient ASICs.

Others are diversifying supply chains, nearshoring or stockpiling hardware to avoid delays.

In the headwinds, Bitdeer (BTDR), a Singapore-based mining company listed on Nasdaq, is going the other way: expanding its U.S. manufacturing footprint. It believes producing rigs domestically will help offset tariff costs and support its self-mining operations.

Major players like Bitdeer are betting on U.S.-based manufacturing to weather the storm and position themselves for growth.