Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump.
Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule.
Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part of its efforts to avert potential heavy US tariffs.
Photo by Sam Yeh, AFP
However, in a statement, TSMC did not address the issue nor offer an update on the company’s chip production plans in Arizona.
The world’s biggest contract chipmaker had said earlier that it plans to build three fabs in Arizona for a total investment of US$65 billion, with the third fab to produce chips using 2-nanometer or more advanced technology by the end of this decade.
TSMC, which is the sole artificial intelligence (AI) supplier to Nvidia Corp, has repeatedly said that it builds capacity overseas due to customers’ needs, and if customers have “very high demand, we build more fabs with necessary government support.”
The board of directors yesterday approved a proposed cash dividend distribution of NT$4.5 per share for the final quarter last year, flat from the previous quarter, although TSMC reported record earnings per share of NT$14.45 in the quarter.
The fourth-quarter cash dividend distribution represented about a 31.14 percent payout ratio.
Last year as a whole, TSMC shareholders would receive a total of NT$17 per share in cash dividends.
The board yesterday also approved employees’ business performance bonuses and profit sharing bonuses totaling NT$140.59 billion (US$4.28 billion) for last year, an all-time high.
It also approved capital appropriations of approximately US$17.14 billion to meet long-term capacity plans based on market demand forecasts and the company’s technology development road map, the statement said.
The capital expenditure would be spent on installation and upgrades of advanced technology process capacity, and advanced packaging, mature or specialty technology capacity, as well as fab construction and installation of fab facility systems, it said.
The board also approved a maximum capital injection of US$10 billion to TSMC Global Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of TSMC, with an aim to reduce foreign-exchange hedging costs.
The board approved the promotion of human resources senior director P.H. Chen (陳培宏) to vice president. The promotion came on the heels of recent media speculation that Lora Ho (何麗梅), head of the human resources department, would retire.
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