Get out the salsa, because more chips are coming to the desert: The biggest semiconductor producer in the world, TSMC, is expanding operations in Phoenix.
Following a meeting with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company CEO CC Wei yesterday, President Trump announced plans by the Taiwanese company to invest $100 billion in the US over the next four years:
- The deal expands upon TSMC’s previous $65 billion investment in Phoenix to build factories, for which it has received as much as $6.6 billion in grants through the CHIPS Act.
- Smoothing out a sticking point, TSMC agreed to bring over its most advanced technology rather than the older legacy tech it had already brought to Arizona.
It cuts both ways: The investment is a salve to both US concerns about falling behind in domestic chip manufacturing and Taiwan’s fears of tariffs on its highly lucrative chips. Trump previously said that Taiwan “stole” the US semiconductor business, and TSMC has worried that the administration could rescind its subsidies—fears that have been quieted by this investment.
Zoom out: TSMC joins a slew of tech companies, including OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and Apple, that have become ardent supporters of US investment in the last few months.—CC