> US learned from its mistake, and doesn't allow chip manufacturing to go offshore to that degree again
I don't think USA made any mistake. It was always heavily invested in South Korea and Taiwan. Neither of them would even exist today without USA's investment, interest, and stewardship.
Intel is the one that made the mistake.
Is it that ecologically damaging? Maybe in the old times when silicon wafers where produced in Silicon Valley and when no-one thought or cared much about the environment. But today, I would assume the damaging effects of semiconductor manufacturing are less profound. But I do not know. Any inputs are welcome.
> But today, I would assume the damaging effects of semiconductor manufacturing are less profound
Manufacturing chips of just TSMC accounts for 5% (!) of Taiwan's entire electricity consumption, Intel's Arizona fab produces thousands of tons of hazardous waste a year [1]. It's far from the old days, but still a massive impact.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/18/semicond...
On top of that, the US outsourced of a very very ecologically damaging part of industry. The remains of Silicon Valley, literally named after the hotbed of what was manufactured there, are the largest concentration of Superfund sites in the US.