The Department of Commerce CHIPS Program Office announced a $6.6 billion grant to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) this morning. As part of the announcement, the company said it will build a third semiconductor chip fab in Arizona, and that it will also bring its most advanced manufacturing processes to the U.S. This is on top of the $40 billion the company is already spending for the first two fabs, which was the largest foreign direct investment in the history of Arizona.
With increasing concerns for supply chain resilience, domestic supply will be attractive as long as the price is competitive. Hopefully that will come with time, as TSMC knows it will have to fill those fabs after completing them.
While $6.6 billion is a lot of money, it is a relatively small fraction of what TSMC is committed to spending in Arizona. It’s also about 17% of the CHIPS budget for subsidies
