TSMC Headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan
0 Facebook x.com Reddit
US Department of Commerce presents award iPhone processor manufacturer TSMC awarded $6.6 billion and provided low-cost loans for a third manufacturing plant in Arizona.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is a manufacturer of processors for iPhone, iPad and Apple computers. While most manufacturing is still done in Taiwan, TSMC is also setting up other factories in places like Germany and especially Arizona.
TSMC has agreed to expand its investment in Arizona to build a third plant by 2030, according to Reuters. This suggests that TSMC will increase its investment in the US again, this time by another $25 billion to $65 billion.
The subsidy and subsequent government loans of up to $5 billion were provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The department says TSMC's $65 billion is the largest foreign investment in an entirely new American project in American history.
TSMC's second plant in Arizona, expected to begin production in 2028, will produce 2nm processors. The first installation is for older processes that are still in use around the world.
“These are the chips that underpin all artificial intelligence, and these are the chips that are essential components of the technologies that we need to support our economy,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, “[and] frankly , the military and national security apparatus of the 21st century.”
The U.S. Department of Commerce funds grants and loans to TSMC through the CHIP Act. This grant pool, also known as the CHIPS for America Fund, is a $53 billion grant pool approved by Congress in 2022.
In addition to manufacturing plants, TSMC is reported to have committed to supporting the development of chip packaging businesses. in USA. This will mean that companies will be able to buy entire packages of advanced chips that are made entirely in the USA.
This contrasts with previous news that while TSMC is using its Arizona plants to make processors for Apple, it will continue to send them to Taiwan for the final stages.
The commitment to build a third plant in Arizona also contrasts with TSMC's previous complaints about what it called unacceptable conditions. Due to the nature of the US-Taiwan relationship, there is no reciprocal tax treaty, meaning that TSMC is currently paying tax twice.
When all three TSMC plans take effect, the US Commerce Department says 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs will be created. This is in addition to approximately 20,000 construction jobs.
However, there was no comment on questions that construction unions have raised about the first and second plants being built in Arizona. TSMC is accused of construction that was so unsafe that it resulted in deaths.
Follow AppleInsider on Google News.
