AFP Biden builds semiconductor factory to reduce dependency on China 07/12/2022 09:37

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday (6) that the American manufacturing industry is returning at a giant Taiwanese semiconductor factory located in the state of Arizona to break the United States’ reliance on foreign manufacturers of this component.

“American manufacturing is back, folks,” Biden celebrated at the Phoenix plant, accompanied by top politicians and big businessmen like Apple CEO Tim Cook and Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) project, the world’s largest state-of-the-art chip manufacturer, will contribute greatly to the goal of ending the US’s dependence on factories abroad, especially Taiwan. finds itself under threat of being absorbed or invaded by China.

TSMC has announced that it will establish a second factory in Phoenix by 2026, increasing its investment in Arizona from $12 billion to $40 billion, with the goal of producing approximately 600,000 microchips per year. The company said that once the two factories are operational, approximately 10,000 jobs related to high technology will be created.

Biden had hoped for political gains from the investment inflow, citing the impact of the Chips Act, which allocates nearly $53 billion for subsidies and research in the semiconductor sector.

Most of the microchip supply available to the United States comes from abroad. While most of the companies are based in Asia in countries allied with Washington, the great distance and geopolitical tension surrounding Taiwan worries the US government and companies like Apple.

© Agence France-Presse