TAIPEI (TVBS News) — U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (盧特尼克) announced on Thursday (Dec. 11) that the Trump administration will encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) to invest more than US$200 billion in the United States. According to Lutnick, this scale of investment would not only create an estimated 30,000 jobs, but also significantly reinforce the country's semiconductor supply chain at a time when the U.S. is striving to reclaim leadership in advanced manufacturing.
U.S. President Donald Trump has reinstated tariff measures aimed at specific industries as part of a broader effort to bring manufacturing back to American soil. He has repeatedly emphasized that outsourcing semiconductor production to regions such as Taiwan has left the U.S. vulnerable, and he argues that reshoring chipmaking capabilities is essential for both economic competitiveness and national security. Despite earlier concerns about the offshoring of the industry, several major chip manufacturers have already begun shifting production back to the U.S.
During an interview with CNBC, Lutnick disclosed that the Biden administration had previously offered TSMC roughly US$6 billion in subsidies to support its U.S. expansion. Following the grant, TSMC moved forward with a large-scale plan to build a US$60 billion fabrication facility. In March, the company further announced its intention to invest at least an additional US$100 billion in the United States to construct three wafer fabs, two advanced packaging facilities, and one research and development center. These commitments would bring TSMC's total U.S. investment to approximately US$165 billion, marking one of the largest foreign direct investment initiatives in the American semiconductor sector to date.