Intending to spend a total of $46 billion to build three factories in the United States, TSMC is currently producing 4nm chips at the first of them, which are two generations behind the leading 2nm chips. According to the Taiwanese minister, the company is forced to maintain such a “technological distance” by legislation.
Image Source: TSMC
This was announced this week by J.W. Kuo, the island’s Minister of Economy, as noted by the Taipei Times. He made the announcement amid ongoing concerns about the new US president’s perceived push to accelerate the adoption of advanced lithography at TSMC’s US operations. “Because Taiwan has relevant regulations to protect its own technology, TSMC cannot produce 2nm chips outside the island right now,” a Taiwanese official explained. In the future, he added, TSMC plans to produce 2nm chips overseas, but key modern technologies will remain in Taiwan.
Let us remind you that TSMC expects to master the production of 2nm chips at enterprises in Arizona towards the end of the decade. The third of TSMC’s planned facilities in the state will not be ready until 2028. It will already be able to produce not only 2nm, but also more advanced chips. However, this does not contradict the norms of the current Taiwanese legislation, since in Taiwan by that time lithography will have gone two generations ahead. After the 2nm standards, the development of the so-called “angstrom” technological processes A16 and A14 will begin.
TSMC Senior Vice President Cliff Hou explained that relations between the United States and Taiwan do not change much as a result of changes in the political situation in the first country. At the same time, the coming to power of Donald Trump, as a TSMC representative expects, will still entail some changes in the US-Taiwan partnership, but it will be necessary to return to this topic after greater certainty appears. A TSMC representative did not comment on rumors about a possible increase in customs duties in the United States by 10%, noting that he does not yet have the relevant official information.