City officials in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday approved a slate of financial incentives and government support for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) planned US$12 billion chip plant, a step toward bringing high-tech manufacturing to the US and addressing national security concerns over the industry supply chain.
The city agreed to provide about US$200 million to develop roads, sewers and other infrastructure, according to a notice from the city council.
At least one additional set of traffic lights would be included for a cost of approximately US$500,000.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa / Bloomberg
The company is conducting due diligence on several locations in Phoenix with a final decision to be made later.
The decision to locate a plant in Arizona came after US President Donald Trump’s administration warned about the threat inherent in having much of the world’s electronics made outside of the US.
TSMC, the primary chipmaker for firms such as Apple Inc, had negotiated a deal with the administration to create US jobs and produce sensitive components domestically for national security reasons.
The Phoenix project is projected to create about 1,900 new jobs over five years, the company said.
“We appreciate the continuous bipartisan support from the US federal, state and city governments,” a spokeswoman for the company said. “It gives TSMC and its supply chain partners the confidence this and other future investments will be successful.”
TSMC in May said that the facility would utilize its 5-nanometer technology for 12-inch wafer fabrication and have a capacity of 20,000 semiconductor wafers per month, with construction of the plant scheduled to start next year and production to begin in 2024.
The company has said that it hoped to convince its own suppliers to set up operations in the vicinity of its new fabrication facility.
Chip giants Intel Corp and Micron Technology Inc already operate facilities in Arizona, and have helped build a vibrant local semiconductor industry over the years.
TSMC said that subsidies would be critical in setting up a fab in the US, given the additional expenses.
While Phoenix has approved its infrastructure spending, TSMC is still waiting on state and federal subsidies and incentives that could surpass by far the city’s expenditures.
The company would enter a formal deal with the city after selecting a site, which is expected before the end of the year, Reuters reported.
A representative for the city council declined to comment beyond statements in public documents.
“It is remarkable that this came to fruition during a pandemic,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in a statement. “The payoff is huge. TSMC will create 1,900 high-tech jobs and foster thousands more related jobs in the semiconductor supply chain ecosystem.”
Additional reporting by CNA
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US