NIKKEI ASIA October 27, 2021 01:57 JST “TSMC founder chides U.S. plan for full chip supply chain onshore” “Chang calls domestic push unfeasible, with $52Bn in subsidies far too little” “Washington is campaigning to bring more chip production onto American soil, amid concern about overreliance on Taiwan” By Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li
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“Morris Chang, an American who founded the [Taiwanese] company [TSMC] that is now the world’s most valuable chipmaker, says it would be impossible for the U.S. to have a full chip supply chain onshore even if it spent far more [that the $52Bn targeted]--and that such a move may not be financially desirable in any case.”
Currently, America accounts for only 12% of global semiconductor manufacturing down from 37% in the 1990s. Chang, retired from TSMC in 2018, claims that a move for American self-reliance is being “driven by self-interest” by the likes of Intel et al. who worry that depending on Taiwan and South Korea is “not safe.”
Chang’s comments would seem to be somewhat at odds with TSMC’s plan to “build an advanced chip facility” in Arizona. America is hardly alone in this pursuit as Japan, China and countries in Europe too are planning to ramp-up their domestic semiconductor manufacturing especially as it relates to military applications.