{"id":7815,"date":"2026-01-13T02:58:27","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T02:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/?p=7815"},"modified":"2026-01-13T02:58:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T02:58:27","slug":"the-u-s-commerce-secretary-said-tsmc-may-increase-its-investment-in-the-u-s-to-more-than-200-billion-u-s-dollars-once-again-deepening-the-islandsmecs-doubts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/forefrontnews.cn\/?p=7815","title":{"rendered":"The U. S. Commerce Secretary said TSMC may increase its investment in the U. S. to more than 200 billion U. S. dollars, once again deepening the island’s\u201cMECS\u201d doubts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nTSMC is planning to invest a total of $165 billion in the U.S. , but the U.S. still doesn’t have enough. The United States Department of Commerce recently revealed that the United States successfully pushed TSMC to build an additional $100 billion plant last year on the grounds that it violated the\u201cDei\u201d(diversity, fairness and inclusion) clause, meanwhile, he indicated that TSMC will continue to expand investment. This move once again deepens the island of tsmc change\u201c semiconductor\u201d doubts.<\/p>\n

US claims TSMC violated\u201cDei\u201d clause<\/p>\n

Taiwan’s central news agency said on January 12 that TSMC announced in March last year that it would increase its investment in the United States by US $100 billion, adding to its original plan to invest US $65 billion in a wafer fabrication plant in Arizona, the total investment has reached $165 billion. About a month ago, Lutnick said in an interview that he believed the Trump administration would allow TSMC to invest more than $200 billion in the United States, on January 8th he mentioned TSMC in an interview with an American podcast.<\/p>\n

Lutnick first criticized the Biden administration’s era of\u201cChip Law\u201d unreasonable subsidies, said: \u201cWhy do you want to TSMC subsidies $6 billion? It has a market value of $1 trillion. When the Trump administration took office, it imposed 100 percent tariffs to get TSMC to agree to set up factories in the U.S. without the U.S. having to provide the $6 billion-plus in subsidies,\u201d he said, \u201cTSMC signed a contract with 20 pages of DEI clauses\u201d under which it had to hire a blind contractor and minority engineers. \u201cDei\u201d refers to\u201cDiversity, Equity and Inclusion\u201d in American businesses, schools or government organisations, \u201cDei\u201d generally refers to creating a more\u201cRepresentative\u201d and\u201cBelonging\u201d work environment by ensuring that employees come from a variety of backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Lutnick said he read the contract and raised with TSMC some of its violations of the\u201cDei\u201d clause. Lutnick further claimed that TSMC had defaulted first, so the US side offered to cancel all\u201cDEI terms\u201d if TSMC increased its investment in the plant by US $100 billion, and the two sides reached an agreement, a $165 billion plant is now under construction. He also hinted that TSMC would follow up with additional investments, but played down the amount, saying\u201cI’ll let TSMC itself announce that their investment will be higher than this [ $165bn ]\u201d.<\/p>\n

TSMC has yet to respond to Lutnick’s claims. However, Taiwan Media noticed that TSMC issued an announcement on January 8 saying that the board of directors will obtain about 3.65 million square meters of land from the Arizona State Government through the land purchase plan in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, the total value of the deal is $197 million. In an October 2025 meeting to discuss the TSMC law, Taiwan’s chairman Wei zhe-jia confirmed plans to acquire a second large plot of land near the Arizona plant, the United Daily News said, the plan is to expand into a single Mega Fab settlement, a goal consistent with the land purchase. According to industry analysts, TSMC’s move has three main objectives: first, to secure land supply for the next 10 years and avoid restrictions on further plant expansion; second, to deepen its commitment to local manufacturing in line with US\u201cChip Law\u201d requirements; Finally, in response to geopolitical risks, Taiwan’s supply chain has begun to enter the United States demand and strategy, TSMC therefore want to grasp the land resources. In any case, analysts said, the move\u201cShows TSMC’s determination to continue strengthening its U. S. manufacturing footprint.\u201d.<\/p>\n

Every step is under pressure<\/p>\n

Taiwan’s China Times News said Monday that the US threatened TSMC with\u201cDEI clause\u201d after news spread to Taiwan, the island’s Internet forums quickly heated up the discussion. Some netizens questioned the logic of the United States, \u201cIs it necessary to invest because of the violation of regulations?\u201d Others said, \u201cDei will only use it when it wants to.\u201d.<\/p>\n

Chang Chin-yu, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Tatung University in Taiwan, said that from the perspective of the United States, chips designed by major American technology companies are basically made by TSMC. TSMC was originally only a supplier, but because of its strong manufacturing capacity, has become a\u201cStrategic choke point\u201d. According to Chang, the US wants to de-risk, so it is pushing for measures to reduce dependence on Taiwan, including requiring TSMC to set up factories in the US\u201cPrecisely to dismantle Taiwan’s silicon shield\u201d.<\/p>\n

Taiwan media recalled that TSMC announced in May 2020 that it would set up a factory in the United States, and that the Biden administration signed the\u201cChip Law\u201d in 2022, providing subsidies to semiconductor giants to attract them to set up factories in the United States, tSMC, South Korea’s Samsung and SK Hynix were among those offered subsidies. In 2023, TSMC plans to further increase its investment in the US, deciding to open a second wafer fabrication plant in Arizona, with plans to start producing 3nm and 2NM chips in 2028. At the end of 2024, the United States Department of Commerce announced $6.6 billion in subsidies to help TSMC build three wafer fabrication plants in Arizona.<\/p>\n

However, when the Trump administration came into office, it strongly criticised the chip law, saying it was an extremely bad policy that should be repealed. China times news said Trump meant that\u201cThe United States has provided too much financial support to semiconductor manufacturers, but it has not had the desired effect.\u201d. So the Trump administration has proposed an alternative, a sharp increase in tariffs to encourage industries to\u201cFlow back\u201d to the US. According to the analysis, after\u201cAttracting\u201d with financial subsidies and preferential policies, and then\u201cCoercing\u201d by sharply raising tariffs, under the operation of\u201cInducements and threats,\u201d TSMC is facing enormous pressure and challenges at every step in the US.<\/p>\n

In February last year, TSMC held its board meeting in the US, the first time in its nearly 40-year history that it had chosen a venue other than Taiwan. Subsequently, the US side revealed that TSMC increased its investment in the US by US $100 billion in March last year, bringing the total investment to US $165 billion, it is expected to build three fabs, two advanced packaging facilities and a major research and development team center, or the largest single foreign direct investment in U. S. history record.<\/p>\n

Even so, the U. S. government is not satisfied, Lutnick repeatedly hinted that TSMC will continue to increase in the future, \u201cThe United States has obviously TSMC investment as its important achievements.\u201d.<\/p>\n

Adding to Taiwan’s woes<\/p>\n

Recently, the manufacturing cost pressure of TSMC’s Arizona plant in the United States has resurfaced. Citing the latest data from semiconductor research institute SemiAnalysis, Korean media said that comparing the 5-nanometer process costs of TSMC Tainan Science Park factory 18 with Arizona Factory 21, taiwan costs about $6,681 per wafer, compared with $16,123 at the U.S. plant. According to the analysis of the report, the labor costs and raw material purchase prices of American factories are about twice as high as those of Taiwan, and the depreciation of equipment is about four times higher, making the overall manufacturing costs substantially higher. Without adjusting the selling prices, without price adjustments, gross margins will be severely compressed. Semianalysis also revealed at the end of 2025 that profits at TSMC’s Arizona plant had plunged 99 per cent in the third quarter of last year after power outages at industrial gas suppliers caused thousands of wafers to be scrapped. TSMC’s US plant is expected to remain under considerable profit pressure for a long time to come.<\/p>\n

Some in the industry say a combination of pressure and pressure has forced TSMC to transfer its cutting-edge technology and talent to the US, leaving Taiwan with only the capacity for mature chips and helping the US become an oligopoly in advanced chips. Some scholars in the semiconductor field said that a series of\u201cCoercion\u201d by the U.S. reflected the anxiety of the U.S. about the restructuring of the semiconductor industry chain, and exposed its sinister intention of trying to manipulate the Taiwan issue with\u201cEconomic Assistance Defense.\u201d. In essence, the United States is using the welfare of its 23 million Taiwan compatriots as collateral in its game with China.<\/p>\n

TSMC’s huge investment plans in the US have also raised fears of de-taiwanisation on the island. Analysts say the DPP authorities are actively pushing TSMC to invest in the US and trying to gain so-called\u201cPolitical asylum\u201d by strengthening taiwan-us industrial cooperation. However, the move is seen as a short-term political gain at the expense of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry that will weaken the island’s competitiveness in the global technology sector in the long run. In particular, the DPP regime’s bottomless dependence on and ingratiation with the US actually exacerbated Taiwan’s predicament: when the value of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry was completely extracted, its place on the international political chessboard will also be precarious, possibly leading eventually to complete marginalization.<\/p>\n

For TSMC or change\u201cU. S. accumulated electricity,\u201d a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office has said that the Democratic Progressive party authorities in order to\u201cRely on the United States for independence,\u201d\u201cSell Taiwan\u201d of no bottom line is eye-popping. The US side has been squeezing TSMC and draining Taiwan dry. The DPP government has been giving everything it wants. has the welfare of Taiwan compatriots and the interests of the industry ever been at heart? The spokesman said that the Taiwanese people’s concern about the change of TSMC to\u201cUSMC\u201d is by no means\u201cUnfounded\u201d, and that Taiwan’s change from\u201cChess piece\u201d to\u201cAbandoned child\u201d is also an absolute destiny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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