In March this year, U.S. President Donald Trump and TSMC Chairman Mark Liu jointly announced an expansion plan, once again bringing TSMC into the international spotlight. Trump sees TSMC’s factory in Arizona as a model of his “America First” policy, but a recent in-depth report by the BBC reveals some contradictions.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that Taiwan “stole” the chip industry from the U.S., and he proudly pointed to the March announcement as proof of the success of his economic policies. He believes it was his tariff threats against Taiwan and the global semiconductor industry that pushed foreign giants like TSMC to move factories to the U.S. to avoid high duties.
After months of applications, the BBC finally received permission to visit TSMC’s Arizona plant in person and offered a rare glimpse into this “mysterious American factory.” BBC journalists stated that the facility will have a profound impact on the global economy and the world’s future. To protect client confidentiality, TSMC’s “Fab 21” in Arizona is under tight security, with visitors prohibited from using blank paper or personal devices to prevent design leaks.
TSMC produces up to 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductors, and its fabs are among the cleanest environments on Earth. Greg Jackson, TSMC’s facilities manager, said the factories being built in Arizona are almost exact replicas of those he trained in back in Taiwan. “I’d say these facilities are among the most advanced and complex in the world,” he said.
Jackson added that it’s a paradoxical situation: chips are extremely small, with tiny structures, yet require massive infrastructure to manufacture. “The complexity of chip manufacturing and the number of systems needed is astonishing.”
Engineer Konstantinos Ninios showed journalists the first 4nm wafers produced at the Arizona plant, emphasizing they are currently the most advanced wafers made in the U.S., involving as many as 3,000 to 4,000 steps in the entire process.
The BBC report not only revealed the partial relocation of one of the world’s most critical, costly, complex, and important manufacturing technologies, but also highlighted that Taiwan itself doesn’t have privileged access to raw materials. Instead, it holds the technical know-how crucial to producing chips essential to modern civilization. Some within the Taiwanese government remain cautious about moving such advanced technology abroad.
Trump claims TSMC brought its top-tier technology to the U.S. because of his economic policies. However, the BBC noted that insiders at TSMC responded diplomatically to that claim.
The report pointed out that the Arizona plant was largely planned and subsidized under the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act. A photo of Biden’s 2022 visit still hangs in a hallway at the plant entrance.
Rose Castanares, President of TSMC’s U.S. operations, emphasized that the semiconductor supply chain is global. No single country can currently manage the entire process—from chemicals to wafer production to packaging—making it difficult to quickly dismantle the system.
The report also noted that TSMC’s U.S. plant is part of a broader U.S. strategy to counter China’s rise in technology, AI, and economic power. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have crafted policies to restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductor technologies, including banning the export of ASML’s advanced lithography machines to China and enacting laws to prevent Huawei from using U.S. software or technology for AI chips anywhere in the world. Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te has also spoken of building a “non-red supply chain.”
The report concluded that Trump envisions TSMC’s Arizona factory as a cornerstone of the golden era he champions for America. However, TSMC’s story may ultimately be the epitome of modern globalization’s success. As the battle for global tech and economic dominance continues, Taiwan’s chipmaking expertise clearly remains one of the world’s most vital assets.
Source: BBC, TSMC
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