By Yang Jie | Wall Street Journal
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to build a second semiconductor factory in Arizona and increase its investment there to $40 billion, the White House said ahead of a visit by President Biden.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker, is stepping up its plans for U.S. manufacturing with encouragement from the Biden administration and likely financial support from U.S. taxpayers, reflecting Washington’s concerns about reliance on Asia for critical chip making.
Under a previously disclosed $12 billion investment plan, TSMC is already building its first factory in Arizona.
In advance of Mr. Biden’s visit to the plant on Tuesday, the White House released details of a second factory planned for the site, saying construction would start in the coming year and production would begin in 2026.
The second factory, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, will make chips with 3-nanometer technology, equal to the tiniest and fastest chips available today, and TSMC’s total investment in Arizona will expand to $40 billion, the White House said. It didn’t say how many years the investment would cover.
