Taiwan Chip Enterprise Increase Investment in U.S.

On June 29th, a Taiwanese chip company GlobalWafers announced a $5 billion investment in the U.S. to build one of the largest factories of its kind, with construction expected to start later this year. Another Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek, said it would establish a research center with Purdue University in Indiana.

After Taiwan’s chip industry TSMC first announced plans to build a factory in Arizona, Taiwan companies in the same industry have also started to invest in the United States. The U.S. considers the concentration of global chip production in Taiwan very risky. On the one hand, it is to tackle constant threat to Taiwan from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP); and on the other hand, it is the global supply chain shortage caused by the CCP virus (COVID-19). The U.S. Commerce Secretary said dependence on Taiwan’s chips has left the States in a fragile situation, and U.S. officials and business leaders are lobbying lawmakers to approve $52 billion in federal grants to aid domestic manufacturing. GlobalWafers Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer said 80% of new manufacturing facility’s capacity has been booked, and TSMC will also produce some national security level chips requested by Washington.

Taiwan is America’s most important partner in terms of democratic values and industry development, and the two sides could deepen their partnership in chip design, research and development.