The government is to assist Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) search for a suitable site for an advanced wafer fab, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday.
Kung’s comments come amid claims from local residents that TSMC has agreed to abandon a planned expansion project in the Longtan (龍潭) section of Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip William Tseng (曾銘宗) asked the minister, who sites on TSMC’s board of directors, whether the government — the chipmaker’s single largest investor with a 6.38 percent stake — was aware of the Longtan project.
Photo: CNA
Kung said that the government would provide any assistance necessary to help TSMC locate an ideal place in Taichung or Kaohsiung for a wafer fab to make chips with technology more advanced than the 2-nanometer process.
The Hsinchu Science Park Bureau said that the Longtan expansion project covers a 158.59 hectare parcel for semiconductor firms to develop 2-nanometer or more sophisticated technologies.
The project is expected to create 5,900 jobs and generate NT$600 billion to NT$650 billion (US$18.6 billion to US$20.14 billion) in production value per year, it said.
The expansion is aimed at helping upgrade Taiwan’s industrial development, and several semiconductor firms had expressed their willingness to invest in the project, the bureau said.
However, the project has faced strong opposition from Longtan residents on environmental grounds. Several residents staged a protest in front of the bureau on Oct. 4, demanding a withdrawal of the plan.
A group opposed to the expansion wrote on social media that TSMC had expressed a willingness to abandon the project at a meeting with residents and Hsinchu Science Park Bureau representatives.
Kung said that he was not sure whether TSMC had yet proposed leaving the project to its board, while an official from the National Development Fund said the government would stay in contact with the chipmaker on the matter.
TSMC has yet to comment on the claims.
The semiconductor firm started mass production of the advanced 3-nanometer process in Tainan at the end of last year, and is developing the more advanced 2-nanometer process, which is slated to begin commercial production in Hsinchu in 2025, while production is also planned in Kaohsiung.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
RSS