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Taiwanese chip giant to announce $100bn investment in US plants

CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to discuss deal with Trump at White House on Monday

A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company factory in Nanjing, China, in 2022. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

A Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company factory in Nanjing, China, in 2022. Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

The CEO of a giant in the semiconductor chip industry plans to meet with Donald Trump on Monday to discuss the Taiwanese company’s new $100bn investment in production in the United States.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is expected to announce the investment in the United States at the White House, a person briefed on the matter said. In April the company’s CEO, CC Wei, agreed to expand its planned spending in the US by $25bn to $65bn and to add two more factories to its site in Arizona by 2030.

TSMC is the largest contract chipmaker in the world, and it first set up shop in Arizona in 2020, with production there beginning late last year. The company’s further expansion in the US would bring additional investment to semiconductor manufacturing at a time when much of the industry is consolidated in Asia.

The chips that TSMC produces are used in most all parts of the tech sector – from smartphones and car consoles to the servers used to power artificial intelligence.

Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told lawmakers last month that the program was “an excellent down payment” to rebuild the sector, but he has declined to commit grants that have already been approved by the department, saying he wanted to “read them and analyze them and understand them”.

The US commerce department under then president Joe Biden finalized a $6.6bn government subsidy in November for TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Arizona.

TSMC said it looked “forward to discussing our shared vision for innovation and growth in the semiconductor industry, as well as exploring ways to bolster the technology sector along with our customers”.

Biden signed the Chips and Science Act legislation in 2022 to provide $52.7bn in subsidies for American semiconductor production and research to boost domestic production and make the United States less reliant on semiconductors made in Asia.

A TSMC spokesperson said last month the company had received $1.5bn in Chips Act money before the new administration came in as per the milestone terms of its agreement.

TSMC last year agreed to produce the world’s most advanced 2-nanometer technology at its second Arizona plant expected to begin production in 2028. TSMC also agreed to use its most advanced chip manufacturing technology called “A16” in Arizona. The TSMC award included up to $5bn in low-cost government loans.

While campaigning for president, Trump criticized the Chips Act and said that tariffs would be a better avenue to bring foreign manufacturing to the US.

Author: Dara Kerr and agencies

Source: The Guardian

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