TSMC will begin production on U.S. soil in 2024 at its Arizona plant. Recently, Apple has put pressure on TSMC to benefit from the company’s latest innovations. TSMC, despite its power, does not seem to have much choice because of the protectionist policies that the USA is putting in place, but also because of the geopolitical uncertainty that poses certain threats to the independence of Taiwan. It is in this context that in the next few hours the American president Biden accompanied by the CEO of Apple Tim Cook, but also of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, the CEO of AMD, Dr. Lisa Su, will be present to attend a ceremony in Arizona announcing the acceleration of the deployment of TSMC on American soil. An important signal confirming a return of Made in USA chips.
The Arizona foundry which was supposed to produce in 5nm is now upgraded to 4nm and TSMC has just announced the construction of a second fab on the Phoenix site to produce 3nm chips (N3). If we add to this the capacity of Intel but also Samsung which is building a state of the art factory in Texas, planned for 2024, it is a real turnaround that we are witnessing with a strong relocation of production capacities in America in particular and even in the West with what is also happening in Europe.
Towards the return of Made In USA for the majority of chips?
In a few short years, the Americans have taken back control of their silicon supply chain. Projections suggest that by the end of 2024, the U.S. will be free of dependence on Asian manufacturing centers. This has been accomplished through billions in approved subsidies to accelerate the construction of new plants, but also through the threat of import taxes for foreign companies that do not locate their manufacturing in the Americas.
