US President Donald Trump’s administration is negotiating a deal that could commit Taiwan to fresh investment and training of US workers in semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced industries, five people familiar with the matter said.
Under the arrangement, Taiwanese companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, would send new capital and workers to expand their US operations and train US workers, the sources said.
Taiwan’s exports to the US are subject to a 20 percent tariff and Taipei has been in talks to reduce that figure as part of an overarching deal with Washington.
Photo: screen grab from the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Web site
Semiconductors, vital for all kinds of high-tech products, are exempt from tariffs while the US builds domestic capacity.
One of the people said that the total US investment to be pledged by Taiwan would be smaller than that of its main regional economic rivals, and would include support to help Washington build science park infrastructure drawing on Taiwanese know-how.
The person and others spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
South Korea and Japan have pledged a total of US$350 billion and US$550 billion in investment in the US respectively, under deals to trim US tariffs on most of their goods to 15 percent from 25 percent.
It was unclear when the Taiwan deal would close or what specifics would make it into the final agreement, the people said.
They cautioned that any deal terms could change until they are finalized in negotiations.
The workforce training aspect of the deal has not previously been reported.
“Until announced by President Trump, reporting about potential trade deals is speculation,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Trump has previously said some skilled foreign workers might be necessary to train Americans in state-of-the-art factories.
TSMC, which declined to comment on the trade talks, has struggled to find the right workers for its US projects.
TSMC chief executive officer and chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in January said that building the new factory in Arizona has taken at least twice as long as in Taiwan, citing a shortage of skilled workers and gaps in the supply chain.
Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations in a statement said that its team was continuing to discuss supply chain cooperation with the US under a “Taiwan model.”
Speaking to reporters in Taipei yesterday, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the two sides are at the stage of exchanging documents to firm up certain details.
“It is very difficult for other countries to do this kind of work, because only we have this concept, practice, and track record of service parks, which allows us to undertake this kind of initiative in the United States,” he said.
While Taipei has been keen to show its commitment to Trump’s call to boost US manufacturing, it has also said the most advanced semiconductor technologies and research would remain in Taiwan.
Taiwan’s representative to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), earlier this month said that he and US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent had discussed supply chains and semiconductors during a meeting on the sidelines of the event in South Korea.
Lin said Bessent had been keen to hear about Taiwan’s experience in building its semiconductor clusters.
Trump in August said that the US would impose a tariff of about 100 percent on imports of semiconductors, but exempted companies that are manufacturing in the US or have committed to do so, which includes TSMC, although US officials are privately saying that they might not levy them soon, Reuters reported this month.
TSMC, whose business is surging on strong demand for artificial intelligence applications, is investing US$165 billion to build chip factories in Arizona, though the bulk of its production would remain in Taiwan.
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