Trump announces $100 billion investment by Taiwan semiconductor manufacturer

President Trump announced Monday that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to spend $100 billion on new manufacturing plants in Arizona.

TSMC is the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer. Companies such as Apple and Intel use its chips in computers, smartphones, cars and medical equipment.

“This will create hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity and boost America’s dominance in artificial intelligence and beyond,” Mr. Trump said. “Semiconductors are the backbone of the 21st-century economy, and really, without the semiconductors, there is no economy.”

The money will go toward five facilities in Arizona, which Mr. Trump said will create 20,000 to 25,000 jobs.

“The most powerful AI chips in the world will be made right here in America,” he said.

The president called the move “a matter of economic security, it’s also a matter of national security.”

“We must be able to build the chips and semiconductors that we need right here in American factories with American skill and American labor,” he said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”

C.C. Wei, the CEO of TSMC, said he was “happy” to announce the $100 billion investment and thanked Mr. Trump for his support.

“It’s going to create thousands of high-paying jobs,” Mr. Wei said.

TSMC chips manufactured in the U.S. will not be subject to tariffs.

Mr. Trump said these and other new factories will increase the U.S. manufacturing share to close to 40% of the chips in the global market.

TSMC benefited from President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which promised $6.6 billion in funding. The company spent more than $65 billion to build three facilities in Arizona, and the first started producing 4-nanometer chips late last year.

Mr. Trump has threatened up to 100% tariffs on semiconductor chip imports if production isn’t moved to the U.S.

He has bashed the CHIPS Act for giving money to a company that already had plenty. He has also raised concerns about Taiwan’s dominance in the industry.

“They left us and went to Taiwan,” Mr. Trump told congressional Republicans in January. “And we don’t want to give them billions of dollars like this ridiculous program that Biden has given everybody billions of dollars. They already have billions of dollars. They’ve got nothing but money. … They didn’t need money. They needed an incentive. And the incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100% tax.”

Critics of the Taiwan-based company say it has a monopoly on the worldwide microchip market. More than 90% of the most advanced chips come out of the island, which is the target of constant invasion threats by China.

Analysts see risks to TSMC operating only out of Taiwan, as it has largely done to date.

Attacks on the island leading to destroyed facilities could leave America shorthanded, putting at risk some of the country’s most important technology and affecting the U.S. military. The company has some facilities in mainland China, which could be susceptible to hacking and sabotage.

Lawmakers and other officials have suggested that TSMC’s fabrication plants should be destroyed to prevent them from falling into China’s hands if the communist power follows through with its threat to take over Taiwan, which it views as a renegade province.

The notion was criticized because the absence of production on Taiwan, regardless of political control, would badly damage economies worldwide.

The TSMC announcement is just one of several investment announcements Mr. Trump has made since he took office.

The heads of OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank plan to spend up to $500 billion in artificial intelligence infrastructure. DAMAC Properties said it will spend $20 billion to build data centers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced plans to invest $500 billion in the U.S. and move manufacturing plants from Mexico to the U.S.

Honda announced Monday that it will produce its next-generation Civic hybrid in the U.S. instead of Mexico to avoid any tariffs.