Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Monday took part in a virtual White House summit about a global semiconductor shortage and Washington’s plans to strengthen US supply chains.
The Hsinchu-based company was among 19 firms, including fellow chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co, GlobalFoundries Inc and Intel Corp, that attended the summit hosted by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, US National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.
US President Joe Biden told executives in the meeting that there is bipartisan support in the US Congress for efforts to strengthen the US semiconductor industry to better protect the manufacturers that rely on it.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Earlier in the day, Biden said that he had received a letter from a bipartisan group of 23 US senators and 42 US representatives, urging passage of the Creating Helpful Incentives for Producing Semiconductors for America Act, a proposed US$50 billion investment in semiconductor manufacturing and research.
Biden said that companies that make and use semiconductors, as well as US consumers, would benefit from a US$2 trillion infrastructure plan that he has put before lawmakers.
“These chips, these wafers ... batteries, broadband — it’s all infrastructure. We need to build the infrastructure of today, not repair the one of yesterday,” Biden said, adding that his plan would “protect our supply chains and revitalize American manufacturing.”
Intel chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger said in an interview after the meeting that the White House and Congress are working aggressively to support the semiconductor industry with more domestic manufacturing, research and development, and efforts to build the workforce.
TSMC also voiced its support. The contract chipmaker, which plays a central role in manufacturing most of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, has secured US government incentives to begin building a US$12 billion advanced chip plant in Phoenix, Arizona, this year.
TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) issued a statement after the meeting that highlighted his company’s investments in the US, but did not directly address what was discussed.
TSMC’s planned US$12 billion investment constitutes one of the US’ largest overseas investment plans in the past few years, Liu said, adding that he was confident the project would succeed with continued bipartisan support from Washington.
Monday’s meeting took place amid a shortage of computer chips that has hampered the global economic recovery from COVID-19, and prompted Biden in February to order a comprehensive review of US supply chains.
US automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co, both of which attended the meeting, have had to announce production cuts and temporary plant closures in the past few weeks amid difficulties sourcing automotive chips.
Many major auto manufacturers cut their chip orders last year due to plunging demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because those openings in chipmakers’ production schedules were later filled by orders from other industries, the automakers are now struggling to keep up with rising consumer demand.
However, the White House said that the summit was not intended to provide immediate solutions, but rather to consult with stakeholders on how the issue could be better addressed going forward.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
RSS