KT Hobbs, the governor of Arizona, plans to visit Taiwan and meet with senior officials from TSMC. It is expected that he will also demand the transfer of equipment and materials for advanced foundry semiconductor manufacturing and the local transfer of the Taiwanese foundry ecosystem to the United States. As the U.S. government's requests for TSMC, including significant facility investments and the acquisition of equity in Intel's foundry, become increasingly excessive, concerns are growing that the entire foundry ecosystem may be lost to the U.S.
On the 17th (local time), Governor Hobbs of Arizona is reported to be planning to visit Taiwan to request the establishment of U.S. factories, not only meeting with senior executives from TSMC but also with corporations included in the foundry ecosystem supply chain, such as equipment and materials. The IT media Digitimes reported that "the U.S. government hopes to build a semiconductor industry cluster by mimicking the models of the Hsinchu Science Park and the Southern Taiwan Science Park in addition to TSMC's investment plans."
Since President Trump's inauguration, TSMC has been proactively responding to minimize the damage caused by the U.S.'s nationalistic policies, such as tariff imposition. An example is the announcement of an additional facility investment plan worth $100 billion (about 144 trillion won) by CEO Wei Zhe of TSMC alongside President Trump. The U.S. government is also in a situation demanding TSMC's comprehensive cooperation, including equity investments to restore the competitiveness of its domestic semiconductor company, Intel.
Kim Hyung-joon, an emeritus professor at Seoul National University, noted that "the U.S. is home to numerous fabless companies leading the global semiconductor ecosystem, such as NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel, but it is relatively weak in the competitiveness of advanced semiconductor processes." He stated that, "The goal is to strengthen leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors by building an advanced manufacturing process ecosystem based on collaboration with TSMC, which has a high reliance on advanced processes."
Additionally, the U.S. plans to request the establishment of factories in the U.S. from TSMC's equipment, materials, and other supply chain manufacturers. This is a natural step for the U.S., which aims to quickly secure advanced semiconductor process technology. TSMC's Arizona Plant 1 has recently begun mass production of 4 NANO products. Plant 2 is scheduled to commence production lines in 2027, and Plant 3 in 2030. To date, approximately $165 billion (about 239 trillion won) has been invested, but concerns have been raised that production may be hindered due to supply chain deficiencies and labor shortages.
An industry insider stated that "even if production facilities are completed, it will be difficult to stabilize processes within the set timeline if supply chains are not established. Therefore, demanding the construction of a manufacturing ecosystem is a natural request." They noted that "additional supply chain transfers are likely planned to reduce costs associated with the supply of essential equipment and materials. However, from the perspective of local Taiwanese corporations, this could be somewhat burdensome due to the investment of labor and costs."
Concerns are growing locally in Taiwan regarding this situation. The Taiwan Economic Daily stated that "if the U.S.'s semiconductor vision can be realized, it could provide growth opportunities for Taiwanese manufacturers, but at this point, following TSMC's overseas transfer is risky." They added that "once TSMC and the ecosystem begin to transfer, questions will arise about 'what will remain in Taiwan.'"