TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — US President Donald Trump lauded TSMC's Arizona investments and praised its CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as being highly respected in the business world.
In an interview with Sharyl Attkisson on the program “Full Measure" that aired on Sunday, Trump denied the host's claim that tariffs take time to show benefits, asserting that the public would see the effects in the short term, per CNA. He cited TSMC's increased US investment as an example, claiming it's investing US$200 billion (NT$6.5 trillion), while the actual figure is US$165 billion.
Trump described TSMC as “number one in the world by far” and praised Wei as "one of the most respected people in business, forget about chips, from Taiwan."
On Mar. 3, Wei met with Trump at the White House, where he announced TSMC would increase its US investment by approximately US$100 billion, in addition to an existing US$65 billion. The new investment would be used to build three fabs, two advanced packaging plants, and an R&D center.
Trump previously said he might raise tariffs up to 100% on chips exported from Taiwan. In Sunday's program, he claimed TSMC's investment was primarily due to his tariff policy, “because if he doesn't, they're going to have to pay very substantial tariffs for the privilege of selling their product in the United States.”
Trump argued that when tariffs encourage foreign manufacturers to build plants in the US, “a lot of money comes in from those plants,” which he claimed would utilize contractors, subcontractors, concrete companies, and steel mills. As a result, Trump predicted that the US would see economic benefits in the short term, and the larger impact would be seen once the factories were fully operational.
However, a February report from TechSpot discussed the differences between building fabs in the US and Taiwan. It pointed out that the time and costs required to build fabs in the US are about twice that of Taiwan.
TechSpot observed the major challenges TSMC faced in building a fab in Arizona, noting that it was difficult for TSMC to find skilled workers in the area, a situation seldom seen in Taiwan.
The report also said that cultural differences between TSMC's Taiwanese management and US employees posed “unforeseen obstacles,” highlighting the fundamental efficiency gap in fab construction between the two countries. Compared to the US, the report noted that Taiwan has obtained “remarkable expertise” in building fabs, followed closely by China and Southeast Asia.
