Comment by lettergram 2 days ago
Notably, this was started in 2020 with a $12B investment - https://www.tsmc.com/static/abouttsmcaz/index.htm
Then in 2022, TSMC invested another $18B and received $6.6B from the CHIPS act.
My bet, is TSMC was given a “you build in the US or we wont give you defense contract work” in 2018-2020 timeframe lol
Does it matter? They played pretend opposition like they always do. Democrats can pass this stuff no problem but people elected the opposition party to advance meaningful democratic reforms like better health care, dealing with housing, increasing minimum wage. They haven't done anything. Its blatantly obvious this chips bill was a giant handout to corporations. Sure the plens get a few breadcrumbs but its pointless to point to republicans when both sides are not really enacting fundamental change for the common man.
> My bet, is TSMC was given a “you build in the US or we wont give you defense contract work” in 2018-2020 timeframe lol
My bet is that TSMC recognizes they are a crazy geopolitical pawn. And is frankly playing their part.
Once China develops chip production abilities similar (but not necessarily better) to TSMC, they’re free to destroy Taiwan. Then they’ll be the sole cutting-edge producer, meaning that everyone will continue to do business with them despite their behavior.
TSMC and the US recognize this. If TSMC bring their tech to America, they’ll at least be safe to continue manufacturing (“for the shareholders”). It also is self-serving because it changes the geopolitical game. It increases the risks to China of an invasion, and favors to the US increase the odds of US intervention (good for their patriotism).
Finally, it’s pretty well established that the US defense industry prefers local factories for security purposes. They’re obviously interested in preserving this ability domestically, and most companies recognize that and accommodate.
Check out Mariupol, Ukraine before and after the Russia invasion https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/28/mariupol-befor...
Then check out Beijing giving Moscow "very substantial" help to beef up its war machine, and in return Russia is handing over its closely guarded military tech on submarines and missiles, in 2024 https://www.politico.eu/article/united-states-accuse-china-h...
Do you think Dictatorships care about any well being of anyone besides the ruling class?
> My bet, is TSMC was given a “you build in the US or we wont give you defense contract work” in 2018-2020 timeframe lol
TSMC is in an extremely precarious geopolitical situation; China's hardball is a lot scarier than Trump's. Expanding their geographical redundancy through billions in handouts is pretty appealing to investors.
TSMC improves the geopolitical situation of Taiwan by building here, too. China doesn't have the possibility of being "the best logic manufacturer left standing" after an invasion and TSMC being destroyed, if some of TSMC's world-class fabs are also located in North America.
So, there's two factors here, that move in opposite directions:
1. China is less likely to secure a semiconductor advantage over the West, if TSMC has a US location. Instead, China is likely to take out the nearby, high quality fab, and whatever they are left with domestically is more likely to be inferior to distant capabilities.
2. Because of #1, China is less likely to secure a massive advantage over the US by invading Taiwan; as a result the US may feel it less likely to support Taiwan.
I'm inclined to think #1 is the more important one. #1 makes the risk of an invasion much higher. #2 makes the reward for an intervention somewhat lower, but I don't think it changes China's calculation of how likely the US is to intervene that much.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act#Histor...