Taiwan denies plans to produce half of its chips in the United States

Taiwan’s Deputy Prime Minister Cheng Li-chun stated on October 1, 2025, upon returning from a trip to the United States, that Taiwan had no intention of transferring half of its chip production to American soil. On September 27, 2025, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick had said it was “essential” for his country to host 50% of Taiwan’s semiconductor production.

Cheng Li-chun denied having discussed this issue with the Trump administration, a claim her government also confirmed. All Taiwanese political parties supported the rejection of Washington’s demands. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that, during her stay in the U.S., she had mainly focused on the 20% tariffs imposed by President Trump on Taiwanese exports.

Taiwanese giant TSMC controls more than half of the global semiconductor market, including over 90% of the most advanced models. It supplies most American tech giants, including Nvidia, AMD, Apple, Qualcomm, and Broadcom. Of the group’s 18 factories, 13 are located in Taiwan, two in the U.S., two in China, and one in Japan.

In March 2025, TSMC announced it would increase its investment in a new plant in Phoenix, U.S., to $100 billion (€85 billion). Taiwan will therefore expand its production on American soil, but it intends to preserve the diplomatic advantage conferred by its near-monopoly on the most advanced semiconductor production.