Federer seemed intent on beating the rain forecast to hit Flushing Meadows and he safely stormed into the last four, where he will face fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
The fifth-seeded Wawrinka, the reigning French Open champion, advanced with an equally unstressed 6-4 6-4 6-0 victory over South African Kevin Anderson.
The other men's semi-final will have top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia going against ninth-seeded defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia.
Federer and Gasquet both featured throwback one-handed backhands, but apart from that elegant stroke there were very few similarities.
Federer could hardly miss and Gasquet all too often played the role of innocent bystander in the 87-minute mauling.
The Swiss maestro uncorked 50 winners to a mere eight from Gasquet.
Meanwhile, pushed off Arthur Ashe Stadium court to Louis Armstrong Stadium because of unsettled weather approaching, Wawrinka did his part to wrap up action quickly brushing past the overwhelmed Anderson in just one hour, 47 minutes.
Anderson lacked the energy he displayed in a fourth-round upset of third seed Andy Murray, allowing the Swiss to dictate play for large stretches of the match.
The South African, who relies heavily on his serve, managed just nine aces and one break chance the entire match, which he could not convert.
