TSMC to Build Chip Factory in US
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation will build a chip factory in Arizona in a move expected to boost U.S. semiconductor competitiveness amid the trade war with China. Production is expected to begin in 2024, the TSMC said May 15, and will reach a “20,000 semiconductor wafer per month capacity.”
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The factory will produce the “world’s most advanced semiconductors,” the Commerce Department said, adding that the semiconductor industry is “critical” for U.S. technology leadership. “TSMC’s investment will reinforce American leadership in cutting-edge semiconductor design and manufacturing,” the agency said. The State Department called the announcement a “game changer for the U.S. semiconductor industry … these chips will power everything from artificial intelligence to 5G base stations to F-35s.”
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said China does not comment “on the production or business layout of any company” but warned against U.S. attempts to decouple from the Chinese technology sector. “Decoupling or severing relations will lead nowhere,” the spokesperson said during a May 15 press conference. “We urge the US to abandon the obsolete Cold War and zero-sum game mindset and correctly view exchanges and cooperation with China in the fields of science and technology.” TSMC’s announcement came hours before Commerce expanded its controls on chips made by and for Huawei (see 2005150005).