Chip maker TSMC announces $100bn investment in US

Announcement comes one week after $500bn investment promise from Apple

TSMC, one of the world's biggest chip makers, announced plans to invest at least $100 billion in US operations. AP

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of the world's largest chip makers, will invest at least $100 billion to bolster manufacturing and research in the US, President Donald Trump said at the White House on Monday.

Mr Trump, speaking alongside TSMC chief executive CC Wei, said the company would build "state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities" in the state of Arizona and elsewhere.

"We're at the forefront of semiconductor technology, supporting AI [artificial intelligence] advancement throughout the industry," Mr Wei told reporters. He said this is TSMC's biggest investment in the US since 2020, when the company announced it would invest $12 billion in a plant in Phoenix, Arizona.

"This is going to create thousands of high-paying jobs and we're going to produce many AI chips."

Mr Wei thanked Mr Trump, and TSMC's customers Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm.

"This is a tremendous thing for our country and hopefully his company," Mr Trump said. "The most powerful AI chips in the world will be built right here in America and it will be a big percentage of those chips made by his [Mr Wei's] company."

The investment comes a week after California-based technology company Apple announced plans to invest $500 billion in the US over the next four years, causing Mr Trump to claim his economic policies prompted the investment.

Some analysts, however, pointed out that Apple had already planned to make the investment before Mr Trump won the recent presidential election.

TSMC's decision to invest so heavily in the US is notable on several levels. A global race is under way between world powers to acquire as many powerful chips as possible to satisfy the needs of the technology sector.

The promise of investment from TSMC helps the US to double its efforts to keep up with chip demand, while at the same time possibly limiting the ability of adversaries to acquire chips.

Unlike former president Joe Biden's approach, relying heavily on grants and government incentives to get chip makers to invest in the US, the Trump administration claims the recent investment from TSMC was fuelled by the ability to avoid paying potential tariffs.

Mr Wei, however, did not address tariffs at the White House.

But US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said: "They are coming here in huge size because they want to be in the biggest market in the world and they want to avoid the tariffs. I want to thank CC Wei for bringing in this incredible $100 billion investment, but it's on the shoulders of our President Donald Trump as to why he's coming."

David Sacks, the White House's crypto overseer, described the chips made by TSMC and others as "the most important in the world".

"These advanced chips power everything. They power AI, they power phones and power cars, so without them the modern economy would stop," Mr Sacks said.

According to TSMC, the company's semiconductors are used inside more than 12,000 electronic products manufactured by about 500 companies.

Mr Trump said that TSMC's total investments in the US since 2020 will have reached $165 billion when the most recent investment is factored in.