Taiwan Chipmaker Plans on Investing $100 Billion for US Expansion

Amidst tariff threats from President Donald Trump, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) announced a US expansion. The decision was made public after CEO C.C. Wei had a meeting with Donald Trump at the White House.

After the conference, the President announced a $100 billion investment will be made starting this week.

A Plan for New Facilities

As the most expansive contract chipmaker in the world, TSMC announced that they could build five extra chip facilities in the U.S. This came after the U.S. president threatened to impose a tariff on semiconductor imports, which can go as high as 100% for Taiwan. The new facilities are set to include three fabrication plants, an R&D center, and two packaging facilities.

C.C. Wei claims that the reason for this decision has nothing to do with the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Instead, the reason for the expansion is backed up by high demand. The expansion plan came after Trump criticized Taiwan for taking away the U.S. semiconductor industry, with the president wanting the manufacturing plans back to America.

President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan claimed that they received no pressure from the U.S. The expansion was made for domestic purposes and to accommodate the increasing demand for semiconductors.

Continued Expansion in Taiwan

The decision for the investment brought on concerns that Taiwan would gain little from this investment. This comes after President Donald Trump claimed he is still considering the tariff, despite the $100 billion deal. TSMC claims that the move was necessary to promote future development, especially considering that many of its buyers are from the US.

To that, the TSMC CEO added that expansion will continue throughout Taiwan as well. Aside from the five facilities across the U.S., TSMC plans to build 11 more production lines, spreading them all over Taiwan. While the plans are made for this year, the expansion will likely go over 2026 as well. There are currently more than 10,000 employees working at TSMC facilities in Taiwan, creating 1.0 nm chips that are to be exported this year.

The company claims that there aren’t enough plants to keep up with the demand, especially with the ever-evolving digital industry. TSMC also explains that aside from the U.S., they are planning to expand their reach in Japan and Germany as well.

Impact on US Economy

Before the new agreements, TMSC had already invested a total of $65 billion in the US semiconductor industry. Operations are already underway in Phoenix, Arizona, where manufacturing is handled over a surface of 1,100 acres. This created workplaces for more than 3,000 people, strengthening the semiconductor ecosystem of the U.S.

With the new manufacturing operations being planned, Taiwan’s investment is expected to go up to $165 billion. The five new facilities are expected to create construction opportunities for more than 40,000 people, spanning over the next 4 years. Once the facilities are open, they will bring thousands of high-paying jobs in the chip industry, spread over numerous domains.