Will TSMC escape tariffs with pledge for $100B in U.S. chip manufacturing plants?

It’s been a whirlwind of news on the tariff front and Taiwan has avoided tariffs for now. But the timing of a $100 billion commitment by TSMC to build chip manufacturing plants in the U.S. may have helped. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is the biggest chipmaker in the world, but most of its chips are made in Taiwan. Donald Trump announced in a press event on Monday that TSMC would invest at least $100 billion in chip manufacturing plants in the U.S. acroos the next four years. TSMC is already building new factories in Arizona based on a prior $65 billion pledge, and now the extra cash will fund the construction of more factories in Arizona, said C. C. Wei, chairman and CEO of TSMC, during the briefing. All of it will support the production of AI chips, he said. “I think it already helped Taiwan avoid tariffs. I have no doubt that there was a political influence in that decision,” said Jim McGregor, a chip analyst at Tirias Research, in a message to GamesBeat. TSMC has also ... Read full article.