Taiwan’s TSMC announces fresh $100 billion investment for new chip plants in US

TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which at the moment is the world’s largest chipmaker, will invest much of these funds into the Arizona state, according to a report by news agency AFP.

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This would create “many thousands” of high-paying jobs, Trump announced during a White House event, flanked by TSMC chief executive C.C. Wei.

The result would be “three new fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities and a major R&D (research and development) team center,” while also supporting 40,000 construction jobs over the next four years, the report quoted TSMC as having said in a statement.

This comes at a time when TSMC has been facing demands to move its production out of Taiwan due to fears that conflicts with China can disrupt supplies of the critical technology.

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Yet another push was Trump’s threat of a 25 per cent tariff on all semiconductor chips made outside the US.

However, this new investment is apart from the over $65 billion it had pledged during former President Joe Biden’s administration to build three factories in the same state. Only one of them have begun production so far, in late 2024.

The latest announcement brings the total committed amount to about $165 billion, according to Wei who added that despite all this, it was still important that Taiwan maintains its “key position” in the global chip supply chain.

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A prime reason for this is to use chip manufacturing as a “silicon shield” against a possible invasion or blockade by China which has been claiming that the island country is part of its own territory.