TSMC announces new $100bn plan to build five chip factories in US

Washington — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) CEO CC Wei announced on Monday the Taiwanese semiconductor company plans to make an additional $100bn investment in the US and build five additional chip factories in the coming years.

TSMC announced the plan in a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump.

“We must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here,” Trump said. “It’s a matter of national security for us.”

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is a leading supplier to major US hardware manufacturers. The $100bn outlay, which would boost domestic production and make the US less reliant on semiconductors made in Asia, is in addition to a major prior investment announcement.

TSMC agreed in April to expand its planned US investment by $25bn to $65bn and to add a third Arizona factory by 2030.

With his November 5 election victory largely driven by voters’ economic concerns, Trump has stepped up efforts to bolster investments in domestic industries to create jobs. The TSMC announcement is the latest in a string of such developments. In February, Apple said it would invest $500bn in the next four years. Emirati billionaire Hussain Sajwani and SoftBank also have promised multibillion-dollar investments in the US.

TSMC said on Monday it looks “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”.

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

Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act legislation in 2022 to provide $52.7bn in subsidies for American semiconductor production and research

Taiwan’s dominant position as a maker of chips used in technology from cellphones and cars to fighter jets has sparked concerns of overreliance on the island, especially as China ramps up pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.

China claims Taiwan as its territory, but the democratically elected government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims. Under Biden, the commerce department convinced all five leading-edge semiconductor firms to locate factories in the US as part of the programme to address national security risks from imported chips.

US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick told legislators last month that the programme 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 analyse them and understand them”.

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 factory expected to begin production in 2028. TSMC also agreed to use its most advanced chip manufacturing technology called “A16" in Arizona. TSMC has already begun producing advanced 4-nanometer chips for US customers in Arizona.

The TSMC award included up to $5bn in low-cost government loans.

Reuters