London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Aug 15, 2026

Biden to visit Taiwan's TSMC chip plant in Arizona, hail supply chain fixes

Biden to visit Taiwan's TSMC chip plant in Arizona, hail supply chain fixes

Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW) on Tuesday said it would more than triple its planned investment at its new Arizona plant to $40 billion, among the largest foreign investments in U.S. history, as President Joe Biden visited and hailed the project.
The expanded investment is a big win for Biden after supply chain issues disrupted the U.S. economy early in his presidency.

"American manufacturing is back, folks," Biden said in a speech against the backdrop of the new factory draped with an American flag and a large banner reading "A Future Made in America Phoenix, AZ."

Biden's recent trip to Asia convinced him the United States is in a better position to lead the world economy in the years ahead "if we keep our focus," he said.

Mark Liu, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, known as TSMC, estimated annual revenue of $10 billion when the two planned chip fabrication plants open, adding that customers would have annual sales of $40 billion from products using chips made there.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O), all major TSMC customers, said they expected their chips to be made in the new plants.

"We work with TSMC to manufacture the chips that help power our products all over the world. And we look forward to expanding this work in the years to come as TSMC forms new and deeper roots in America," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a speech.

Also joining Biden at the facility's opening ceremony was TSMC founder Morris Chang, chipmaker Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, among others.

The plant, scheduled to be operational in 2024, will make a more advanced chip than initially announced.

TSMC's Taipei-listed shares were flat in early trade on Wednesday following the announcement, tracking the broader market (.TWII).

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is a leading supplier to major U.S. hardware manufacturers. Its $40 billion funding for the two facilities is the company's largest investment outside of Taiwan.

"Bringing TSMC's investment to the United States is a masterstroke and a game-changing development for the industry," Nvidia's Huang said in remarks prepared for Tuesday's event.

TSMC's expanded investment in Arizona is the latest in a string of major investments announced by chipmakers since the CHIPS and Science Act passed this summer. These include International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), Micron Technology Inc (MU.O) and Wolfspeed Inc (WOLF.N).

TSMC said it would build a second facility nearby to produce so-called "3 nanometer" chips by 2026, the most advanced currently in production.

TSMC also said it was planning to build an industrial water reclamation plant. Chip making is a water-intensive process, and Arizona, which is largely desert, is increasingly struggling with water shortages.

TSMC's Liu said its Phoenix factories are expected to create 13,000 high-tech jobs, including 4,500 under TSMC and the rest filled by suppliers.

Biden has sought to boost semiconductor production after the pandemic caused supply chain problems that led to shortages of chips for vehicles and many other items.

U.S. semiconductor production accounts for just 12% of the global total, down from 37% two decades ago, said a White House report on supply chain problems last year.

Taiwan's dominant position as a maker of chips used in technology from cellphones and cars to fighter jets has sparked concerns of over-reliance on the island, especially as China ramps up military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.

China claims Taiwan as its territory but the democratically elected government in Taipei rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

The $52.7 billion Chips and Science Act, signed into law by Biden in August, is aimed at preventing a resurgence of supply chain woes.

Biden's trip to Arizona marks "a significant milestone that TSMC is reaching in bringing the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S.," said Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council.

Biden's victory in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election helped catapult him to the White House. Republican Donald Trump had won the state in 2016.

Biden has said he intends to seek a second four-year term in 2024.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Finland Discuss European Defence and Continued Support for Ukraine
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
UK Government Deploys Military to Help Fight Wildfires and Bans Disposable Barbecues
UK Records Hottest Day of the Year as Fifth Summer Heatwave Peaks in Southern England
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Cash Flow and Tax Pressures
Greatham Marsh Restoration Restores Tidal Wetland in Hartlepool After More Than 200 Years
UK Health Regulator Urges University Students to Check Meningitis and Measles Vaccination Status
Mining Remediation Authority Completes Major Ground Stabilization Works in Scottish Community
UK Food Crime Investigators Seize 33 Tonnes of Illegal Food in Multi-Agency Operation
Technical Qualification Uptake Hits Record High as Advanced Mathematics Results Improve
UK Summer Temperatures on Course to Challenge Long-Standing Records, Met Office Says
UK Farmers Bring Forward Cereal Harvests as Drought Threatens Yields
Wildfires Surge Across England and Wales as Fire Chiefs Report Record July
UK Nurses Warn of Heat Risks as Hospital Staff Struggle With Extreme Temperatures
Southern Water Seeks Drought Order for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amid Water Shortages
UK Heatwave Pushes West London Temperature to 38.1 Degrees as Health Alerts Continue
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Global Uncertainty
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
UK Residents Gather to Watch Rare Partial Solar Eclipse
Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice Faces Criticism Over Legal Threat Against Guardian Journalist
Michael Forsyth Elected Speaker of the House of Lords
Cambridge Researchers Launch £20 Million Human Organoid Drug Testing Programme
Heathrow Loses European Passenger Traffic Lead to Istanbul Airport
Households Near New UK Electricity Pylons to Receive £250 Annual Energy Bill Discount
UK Government Estimates Zero-Hours Contract Ban Could Cost Employers Up to £3 Billion a Year
Robert Jenrick Leaves Conservatives for Reform UK in Major Parliamentary Defection
UK Police Chiefs Urge Government to Block Early Release of Andrew Harper Killers
UK Government Holds Emergency Cobra Meeting as Drought and Heatwave Raise Wildfire Risks
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
Police Conduct Cross-Border Raids Against Northern England Drug Network
Nicola Sturgeon Protested at Edinburgh Festival Fringe Event
Major UK Retail Chain Enters Administration With One Hundred Fifty-Four Stores Set to Close
Heathrow Renews Call for Runway Expansion After Losing Europe’s Busiest Airport Ranking
Government Condemns One Million Pound Thames Water Executive Bonus Amid Drought
NHS England Says More Than One Hundred Thousand Hepatitis C Patients Have Been Cured
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband Calls for End to West Bank Settler Violence
UK Prepares for Deepest Partial Solar Eclipse Since Nineteen Ninety-Nine
UK Heatwave Triggers Amber Health Alerts as Economic Losses Reach Four Point Four Billion Pounds
UK Offers Electricity Bill Discounts to Communities Hosting New Power Infrastructure
Bank of England Expected to Hold Interest Rates at Three Point Seven Five Percent
UK Government Moves to Ban Subscription Traps and Misleading Retail Discounts
Andy Burnham Gives Councils New Powers to Block Betting and Vape Shops
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Nicola Sturgeon Says She Has No Contact With Estranged Husband After SNP Embezzlement Case
Police Arrest Two Men After Aberdeenshire Defense Technology Office Break-In
×