Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment.
To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly.
Photo: CNA
Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically those that were at least two generations less advanced than those being used domestically, it said.
“Those were old-time rules. Times have changed,” Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said on the sidelines of a ministry media briefing yesterday.
“Private businesses should make their own business decisions based on their own technological progress,” Kuo said.
“The basic principle is that businesses can make profits from their overseas investments,” Kuo said. “TSMC is building factories in the US with the aim of serving its US customers, as 60 percent of the world’s chip-designing companies are based in the US.”
TSMC would “cautiously” evaluate the possibility of investing in building a 2-nanometer fab in the US, which would cost US$28 billion to US$30 billion, Kuo said, adding that TSMC would not yield under pressure from the incoming US government, or rush to build such an advanced chip manufacturing fab in the US.
TSMC has said its second fab in Arizona would produce chips using 2-nanometer and 3-nanometer technology in 2028, after the first fab begins production of 4-nanometer technology in the first half of this year.
The third fab would produce chips using 2-nanometer or more advanced processes, with production beginning by the end of the decade. The investment in Arizona would surpass US$65 billion, it said.
The ministry’s top priority this year is to build a global semiconductor supply chain in collaboration with the US, Germany, Japan and the Philippines, Kuo said.
In Japan, the ministry plans to create an office in Fukuoka, which is about a two-hour drive from Kumamoto, where TSMC is building two chip factories, to assist local semiconductor-related companies in setting up operations in Japan, Kuo said.
The ministry is set to sign an agreement with a private organization on behalf of the Japanese government in the first quarter or second quarter to safeguard Taiwanese companies’ interests, he said.
Commenting on the impact of possible changes in US trade policy, Kuo said the new tariffs proposed by US president-elect Donald Trump would have a relatively minor impact on Taiwanese exporters and export orders, given their strong technological capabilities.
Export orders this year might grow compared with last year, particularly as local companies benefit from the US-China trade row, he said, adding that domestic manufacturers are replacing their Chinese counterparts in supplying goods to US companies, while also allocating more production back to Taiwan, he said.
“Trump will only be in office for four years and can’t run for another term so his impact will be limited,” Kuo said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS