US President Joe Biden visits TSMC plant in Arizona, a symbol of his chip-making agenda
- The facility, producing four-nanometer chips, is expected to go online by 2024, subsidised in part by funds from Biden’s signature Chips & Science Act
- TSMC Chairman Mark Liu announces plans for a second chip plant in Arizona, which would also help meet US objective of ending reliance on overseas suppliers
US President Joe Biden travelled to Arizona on Tuesday along with a retinue of politicians and tech titans to celebrate economic plans that he claimed would usher in a new era of manufacturing, create good-paying jobs, build resilient supply chains, and help the US “win the economic competition of the 21st century”.
“American manufacturing is back ”, he declared at a ceremony to mark the installation of the first piece of production equipment at a US$12 billion facility of chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) in Phoenix.
“Over 30 years ago America had more than 30 per cent of the global chip production. Then something happened. American manufacturing – the backbone of our economy – began to get hollowed out. Companies moved jobs overseas,” Biden said
“But folks, where’s it written that America can’t lead the world once again in manufacturing?”
The remarks came in the presence of Morris Chang, the founder of TSMC, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, who just months ago called Biden’s ambitions to boost domestic semiconductor production “a wasteful, expensive exercise in futility”.
Also in attendance was Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who has faced criticism in the US for his close ties to China, where much of the iPhone maker's production is located.