TSMC Arizona’s first chip factory November 7, 2024
Katie Tarasov
US President-elect Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of “stealing” his country’s chip industry. But Taiwan’s biggest chipmaker is confident the Trump administration will continue to fund its US projects
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was promised 6.6 billion dollars under the administration of Joe Biden CHIPS and Science ACT help build three state-of-the-art chip factories in Arizona as part of America’s efforts to onshore chip production.
Speaking to CNBC’s Emily Tan in an exclusive interview, TSMC Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said funding is expected to continue to flow gradually under Trump as manufacturing plants pass construction and production milestones.
“In fact, in the fourth quarter, we have already received the first batch of government support,” Haung said, revealing that the contract chipmaker had received $1.5 billion in funding.
Following some production delaysthe first manufacturing facility in Arizona began producing advanced chips in the fourth quarter of last year, Huang said. He added that the construction of two plants in Arizona is underway he was on the right track, and it was expected that there would be others operational in 2028.
of TSMC first investment in Arizona was announced in May 2020, and the company’s total investment in its three projects there will eventually exceed $65 billion.
Much of the investment was made after the Biden administration signed the bipartisan agreement CHIPS Law in August 2022, committing almost 53 billion dollars invest in the domestic semiconductor supply chain and stand up to China.
While the future president is also expected competition with China and onshoring production a priority in his second term, it was debate on whether Trump and the Republican-led House of Representatives will reconsider the CHIPS Act.
During his campaign for the White House, Trump publicly criticized the law and its cost, arguing instead that tariffs are a more effective strategy for onshore chip manufacturing. The president-elect also accused Taiwan of “theft“America’s chip business.
However, industry experts told CNBC that they expect Trump to abandon the policy mostly intact because of its bipartisan support in Washington.
TSMC on Thursday reported record profits for the fourth quarter on strong demand for artificial intelligence chips, sending its shares up nearly 4%. Shares rose 1.36% on Friday.
Speaking on the earnings call after the results, CEO and President CC Wei noted TSMC’s “longstanding and good relationship” with the U.S. government and the commitment and support it has received at the federal, state and city levels.
“I assure you that we have very honest and open communication with the current government, but also with the future government,” he said in response to the investor’s question.
On Thursday, Wei also said the company would not attend Trump’s inauguration because it wanted to remain low-key, according to a Reuters report.
