The administration of US President Donald Trump is considering taking equity stakes in companies getting funds from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act but has no similar plans for bigger firms boosting US investments, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Micron Technology Inc, a White House official told Reuters yesterday.
The official confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that the administration does not intend to seek equity stakes in semiconductor companies, such as Micron and TSMC, that plan to step up investment.
On Tuesday, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the government was continuing to work on the possibility of taking a 10 percent stake in troubled chipmaker Intel Corp and suggested it would seek further stakes in other grant recipients.
Photo: Reuters
"If we're going to give you the money, we want a piece of the action for the American taxpayer," Lutnick told CNBC.
While the administration of former US president Joe Biden had been giving "money for free" to companies such as Intel and TSMC, he added, "Donald Trump turned it into saying, 'Hey, we want equity for the money.'"
At a March event with Trump at the White House, TSMC, which has Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc as key clients, announced plans for the new US$100-billion US investment, in addition to US$65 billion committed for three manufacturing facilities in Arizona.
Micron boosted its US investment plans in June.
TSMC executives have already had discussions about returning their subsidies if the Trump administration asks to become a shareholder, the Wall Street Journal said.
The White House and TSMC declined to comment. Micron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US Department of Commerce, which oversees the US$52.7-billion CHIPS and Science Act, finalized subsidies of US$6.6 billion late last year for TSMC to produce semiconductors in the US.
The commerce department did not immediately comment.
Besides Intel, Micron, TSMC and Samsung Electronics Co were among the biggest recipients of CHIPS Act funding, but almost all of it has yet to be disbursed.
Trump has previously said he wanted to kill the CHIPS Act program.
In the past, the US government has taken stakes in companies during periods of economic uncertainty to provide financial support and restore confidence.
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