On the 15th, the U.S. government announced the payment of $6.6 billion in support under the Semiconductor Support Act (CHIPS and Science Act, also known as the ‘Chips Act’) to Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest foundry (semiconductor consignment production) manufacturer.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said in a statement, “Funding will be provided directly to TSMC Arizona, a subsidiary (US corporation) of TSMC in Taiwan.”
This funding will support a planned investment of more than $65 billion to create three new, state-of-the-art semiconductor manufacturing plants in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Department of Commerce will provide funding as each phase of the project is completed.
◾️Three semiconductor factories
Last April, TSMC announced plans to expand its investment in the U.S. to $65 billion and build a third fab (semiconductor production plant) that will use the 2-nano process in Arizona by 2030.
TSMC already had two fabs under construction in Phoenix.
On the 15th, the Ministry of Commerce explained that the confirmation of this subsidy was “made after the signing of the provisional agreement announced on April 8 and the completion of the Ministry of Commerce’s due diligence,” and announced that the final agreement with the company had been concluded.
◾️ Biden “The most important milestone”
President Joe Biden emphasized in a statement, “The final agreement signed with TSMC today (15th) will stimulate $65 billion in private investment that will build three state-of-the-art facilities in Arizona and create tens of thousands of jobs.”
He added, “This is the largest new foreign direct investment in U.S. history.”
President Biden also said, “TSMC’s first facility is scheduled to be completed early next year.”
“For the first time in decades, our U.S. manufacturing plants will produce the cutting-edge chips used in our most advanced technologies,” he explained.
President Biden also emphasized, “This announcement is one of the most important milestones in the implementation of the bipartisan CHIPS Act.”
This announcement marks the first time that subsidies under the CHIPS Act have reached a legally binding stage.
◾️ Trump calls the CHIPS law “very bad”
The Chips Act is a law that provides a total of $52.7 billion over five years for semiconductor research, development and manufacturing to encourage semiconductor production in the United States.
President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20th next year, has consistently criticized the CHIPS Act.
At the end of last month, when he was a candidate, he appeared on the ‘Joe Rogan Express’ podcast and said that the CHIPS Act was “so bad.”
◾️ “Tariffs, not subsidies”
At the same time, President-elect Trump emphasized that tariffs should be imposed on overseas semiconductor manufacturers rather than providing subsidies for the construction of new fabs or research and development centers.
President-elect Trump also targeted TSMC and said, “Taiwan is stealing America’s semiconductor industry.”
Accordingly, reports of concerns about whether the Chip Act could be maintained once the Trump administration takes office continued to appear in specialized media in the electronics industry and economic and industrial circles.
VOA News
