The world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is under Chonbang pressure from the Trump administration, is expected to accelerate the construction of advanced factories in the United States.
According to local media in Taiwan on the 19th, TSMC plans to advance the construction schedule for its third factory in Arizona, originally scheduled to start next year, to June this year. If this plan materializes, the mass production schedule for the 2-nanometer (1 nanometer is one-billionth of a meter) process being introduced at the third factory will also be moved up from 2030 to the third quarter of 2028. The most advanced foundry process in the industry will quickly take root on American soil.
The industry anticipates that if TSMC's plans come to fruition, the technology gap between the foundries in Taiwan and the local fabs in the United States will close rapidly. The Arizona fab is TSMC's first advanced process manufacturing plant built overseas with an investment of $65 billion (approximately 93.56 trillion won), which began mass production of 4-nanometer wafers in the first quarter of this year. The 4-nanometer process was introduced by TSMC in Taiwan in the first half of 2021. TSMC initially planned to produce 4-nanometer chips for its largest customers, Apple and NVIDIA, at its first factory in the U.S., and was set to start additional fabs this year and next year. However, after starting construction on its second factory this year, the company is considering plans to immediately build its third factory without delay.
With the acceleration of factory construction, the mass production timeline for the 2-nanometer process may be advanced by about a year and a half compared to previous expectations. The second factory in Arizona, which will adopt the 3-nanometer process, is expected to start mass production in the third quarter of 2027, while the third factory may begin mass production of the 2-nanometer process a year later, in the third quarter of 2028. Considering that the industry's cutting-edge process, A16 (2-nanometer), is scheduled for initial mass production at TSMC's Taiwan plant in the second half of 2026, the technology gap between Taiwan and the U.S. for advanced processes will narrow to about two years.
The industry sees a good chance of this plan materializing. The acceleration of the processes TSMC initially intended to introduce aligns with the Trump administration's 'Made in America' policy framework while being less burdensome than other options facing TSMC. President Trump is pressuring overseas corporations to produce advanced semiconductors in the U.S. through high tariffs on semiconductors. Furthermore, it has been reported that the Trump administration has requested TSMC to acquire equity in Intel's foundry division, which is experiencing a management crisis, to rebuild the domestic semiconductor industry. TSMC, which derives over 70% of its revenue from U.S. customers, must be mindful of the U.S. government's stance. In this situation, TSMC, which has maintained a principle of independent management, finds that accelerating the introduction of cutting-edge processes, building advanced packaging facilities, and expanding investments in its Arizona plant is more advantageous than taking on Intel's foundry division.
Taiwan's media analyzed that the skilled workforce in the U.S. has increased, combined with support from the U.S. government, making it highly likely that the second factory in Arizona will start mass production of 3-nanometer chips in the third quarter of 2027. Additionally, since the third quarter of 2028 coincides with the next U.S. presidential election period, it was also suggested that this would be an optimal time to start mass production of the 2-nanometer process at the third factory. Consequently, there are predictions that TSMC will hold a grand groundbreaking ceremony for its third factory in the U.S. in June. The industry expects that President Trump will likely also participate in the groundbreaking ceremony. TSMC has not officially responded to this, but it has stated that the construction of the factory is proceeding as planned.