Trump’s Tariffs Work: TSMC to Speed ​​Up 3nm Chip Production in US

Donald Trump, who came to power in the United States, explained during the election campaign that he would impose customs duties even on semiconductor products supplied from Taiwan, so TSMC is forced to speed up the localization of chip production in Arizona. According to some reports, it intends to launch production of 3-nm components at its second plant in the region as early as 2027.

Image Source: TSMC

Initially, as TrendForce explains with reference to MoneyDJ, the company expected to master the production of 3-nm products at the second enterprise in Arizona no earlier than 2028, so the new schedule allows us to talk about the acceleration of business processes. The second TSMC enterprise in Arizona will be able to begin installing equipment in the middle of next year, and this will allow the mass production of 3-nm chips to begin in 2027. The same enterprise is also planning to launch the production of 2-nm products in the future.

TSMC’s third Arizona facility, expected to open later this decade, will be able to produce not only 2nm chips but also more advanced ones using A16 technology. If all goes according to plan, the second facility will be producing 25,000 to 30,000 wafers a month of 3nm products in 2027. TSMC’s first Arizona facility began producing 4nm products late last year, slightly ahead of its original schedule.

Today, a meeting of the TSMC board of directors was held in the United States, where various issues were discussed. It was expected that TSMC would decide to announce the construction of a fourth plant in Arizona, or announce plans to launch chip testing and packaging services in Texas, but this did not happen. Since the company is currently forced to send all chips manufactured in the United States to Taiwan for packaging, this does not allow us to talk about the presence of a complete closed-loop infrastructure in Arizona. With the emergence of a specialized plant in Texas, the problem of dependence on Taiwan for local customers of the company could be solved. The only public statement by TSMC following the board meeting was the decision to allocate an additional $17 billion to expand production capacity and engineering infrastructure in the regions where it operates.