TSMC wins subsidies to expand US chip manufacturing

The TSMC Arizona facility under construction in 2022. Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has agreed to build a third factory in Arizona, raising its total investment in the United States from $40bn to $65bn. The deal is part of an effort to boost semiconductor production in the US. The US is currently highly dependent on Asia, especially Taiwan, for chips. The Commerce Department has predicted that the investments will expand America's share of production of the most advanced chips from zero to about 20% by 2030. Laurie Locascio, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology, said the latest support for TSMC marked an "Inflection point... that would restore our nation's leadership in an industry that is foundational to the US and global digital economy". TSMC has already pushed back production timelines, because of a shortage of skilled labour and some questions around US government incentives. The investment comes as US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wraps up a visit to China, where she has been trying to ease tensions between the two giants, which have flared over issues such as semiconductors and green technologies. The US currently imposes steep import duties on electric cars made in China, a tax other places, including Europe and the UK, are debating. "China will continue to believe correctly or incorrectly, that the United States is determined to block its 'peaceful rise', and the United States will continue to believe correctly or incorrectly, that China engages in a host of predatory economic and trade policies, which threaten the rules-based global system," he said.