Athira Sethu
Kochi, 5 March 2025
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest chip maker, will be spending at least $100 billion in the United States. The funds will be used to build advanced manufacturing plants, according to former President Donald Trump. The fresh investment is over and above TSMC’s previous plans and is likely to create high-wage jobs in the U.S., especially in Arizona, where the company has already made significant investments.
The announcement follows years of anxiety about possible interruptions in chip supplies in case of a conflict between China and Taiwan. TSMC already committed to spending over $65 billion on three Arizona factories in the Biden administration. These facilities went into production late in 2024.
Trump has advocated that greater manufacturing occur within the U.S. and proposed levying 25% tariffs on offshored-produced chips. The new investment of TSMC will consist of three new chip-making factories, two advanced package plants, and a large R&D center, providing around 40,000 construction jobs for four years.
While Taiwan is backing TSMC’s expansion in the U.S., there are fears that it will hurt Taiwan’s “silicon shield”. Taiwan’s technology industry is regarded as a major defense against Chinese threats, as China considers Taiwan part of its territory. Some fear that if too many of these factories are constructed abroad, Taiwan will lose this shield.
The overall amount invested by TSMC in its U.S. investments now totals approximately $165 billion. The firm intends to manufacture chips to enable progress in fields such as artificial intelligence and smartphones.
Since assuming office once more, Trump has been urging businesses to invest in American manufacturing, with assurances of huge financial investments from big corporations such as Apple, which has committed to investing $500 billion in the next four years. Critics, however, note that similar commitments made during his first term did not always materialize.
