The Taiwanese processor manufacturer TSMC is massively expanding its investments in the USA. In addition to one existing and two planned chip factories in Arizona, three more are to be added. A development center and two plants for packaging computer chips are also planned in the southwestern US state. The investment volume is set to increase from 65 billion to 165 billion US dollars.

US President Donald Trump and TSMC CEO C.C. Wei made the announcement on Monday. The White House describes it as the largest foreign direct investment in the USA. By building the factory, the island state hopes to prevent its most important export products by far from being hit by the planned Trump tariffs of 100 percent. Although Taiwan cannot create the jobs created in the USA at home, the profits from chip production will flow to Taiwan after deduction of US taxes.

It remains to be seen whether this will pay off for Taiwan in the long term. The USA is pushing for self-sufficiency in chip production and wants the entire production chain to be domestic. This reduces the incentive to protect Taiwan as an independent state against the incorporation efforts of the People's Republic of China.

Wei thanked his host: “We will produce many chips to support the progress of AI, and to support the progress of the smartphone. And, once again, I would like to thank President Trump for his support. In addition, I would also like to thank my customers in the US, including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom. They all support TSMC's production in the USA. Without their support, we probably wouldn't be able to make it a reality.” Trump is celebrating the announcement as his success.

Traditionally, the most important investor countries in the USA are Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany. Statistically, foreign investment in the USA does not yield the best returns. A report by the US Department of Commerce shows that returns have been well below those achieved by US investments abroad for decades.

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