Taiwan tells Uncle Sam its chip ecosystem ain't going anywhere

Taiwan's vice-premier has ruled out relocating 40 percent of the country's semiconductor production to the US, calling the Trump administration's goal "impossible." In an interview broadcast on the CTS channel, vice premier Cheng Li-chiun said she made clear to US officials that Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem cannot be moved …

[elsergiovolador]

Correction

calling the TrumpPutin administration's goal "impossible."

FTFY

Doing what bully wants would be a mistake, so power to Taiwan.

[retiredFool]

Ruh roh shaggy

100% tariff threat in 3, 2, 1... A normal person would think insane to move that much capability to the US so quickly, let alone the "why would they" part. But trump, dum dum donald.

[xyz]

Bargaining chip (no pun)

Can you imagine how much Trump would care about Taiwan if the USA had 50% of the fab. He'd love it if China invaded and then he'd have 100% of the only supply available.... kerching.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

He and Hegseth would probably bomb the Taiwanese foundries too before the Chinese could get hold of them....

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

The US would lose any war it started near China or Taiwan, and in a heartbeat.

Chinese military capabilities already far outweigh anything the US could muster up today, let alone their way superior technological advances that the USA has no comeback for whatsoever.

[Medixstiff]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

I'm sorry, how many wars has China fought in the last 30 years compared to the US?

And don't forget Xi's just gutted most of the senior military staff.

[Alumoi]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

I'm sorry, but I had the impression USA never fought any wars since WW2. Sure, they invaded some countries, liberated others, policed some regions of the globe and such, but war? No sir!

On the other hand PRC had been at war with ... erm, ...., give me a minute, a know this one..., erm...

/sarcasm

[jpennycook]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

China failed spectacularly to invade mainland Vietnam.

[Alan Brown]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

Yes, but if you look a little more closely you'll see that it was one general and a few brigades. He was sent out to fail.

The more important point is that China doesn't WANT to go invading anyone - and thanks to the One Child Policy, it can't actually do it anyway.

The Taiwanese situation is more about ritualised shaking of fists than much else and prior to enhanced USA sabre rattling in the region around 2013 regarding the Norks, relationships had been getting closer (politically, cultirally and economically)

It's worth noting that China has spent a lot of time and effort fighting the spread of African hemooragic swine fever - which included culling hundreds of millions of pigs, effectively putting millions of smaller farrmers out of business. Farmers don't tend to buy animal feed for animales which no longer exist - with the animal feed in question being USA soybeans.

I think you can see where that's going. Having the Orange Onanist declare the collapse in soybean sales was a trade war didn't go down well with a country reeling from a major zoonotic (and critical pork shortage). The USA could have been the good guys and cemented sales into a market 3 times the size of the USA domestic pork one, but instead managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

[IamAProton]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

Well, if it wasn't for the rampant corruption and they did not use the rocket fuel to make hotpot... big maybe.

Just recently the last PRC general (or whatever his rank was) with actual war experience is no more, so good luck with that.

PS: I don't think you'll get your 50 cents by writing on this forum ;)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Bargaining chip (no pun)

LMAO, thanks for the laugh

[Bebu sa Ware]

MAD

"He and Hegseth would probably bomb the Taiwanese foundries too before the Chinese could get hold of them...."

Obviously if you hold a valuable and temporarily resource both sides want and need then it doesn't matter who destroys that resource.

Indeed, I suspect it is a very early chapter in the Dummies Guide to Medizing in the 21st Century.

[VoiceOfTruth]

Lutnick

He thinks he can just tell other countries to relocate their industries. Beggar those countries so the USA can be fat.

The threat to Taiwan is not from mainland China. It is from the USA.

[blu3b3rry]

Re: Lutnick

"The threat to Taiwan is not from mainland China. It is from the USA."

Are you sure about that? Thanks to the fat orange idiot the USA isn't friends with the majority of the globe at the moment including Taiwan, I'm not sure any threat to the country from China can simply be dismissed either. They have made their ambitions regarding the country very clear, no?

[VoiceOfTruth]

Re: Lutnick

The difference is this: The USA would destroy Taiwan to prevent it 'falling into communist hands'. China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

[jvf]

Re: Lutnick

No desire yet. Until they can make enough chips on their own. That'll probably happen faster then the US can do it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

Taiwan is a democracy. Is that democracy also part of the "Taiwan" that the PRC has - you claim - no desire to destroy?

[Mike VandeVelde]

Re: China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

If Trump keeps it up Taiwan will prefer reunification over the tariffs and militarism and chaos of his Free World. The world hasn't ended in Hong Kong or in Macao in well over a quarter of a century now.

[IamAProton]

Re: China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

Ask some HongKong native (if you can still find some in HK)

[Ken Hagan]

Re: China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

Actually, asking a HK native to express an opinion would be rather unkind, don't you think. I mean, the world pretty much *has* ended for anyone who sticks their head above the parapet over there.

[Alan Brown]

Re: China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

Yes it has - and that's been enabled by the rise of authoritarian policies across the West.

It's worth noting that Naziism was mostly the Antebellum Soutrh reskinned for german consumption and it was EXTREMELY popular in Interwar USA with millions of card carrying party members (Mostly the Bund, but others too). What we're seeing in the USA now isn't a result of Trump being elected - he got elected because of what the USA has become.

[Mike VandeVelde]

Re: China has no desire to destroy Taiwan.

I can find plenty around here in Hongcouver. They freely travel back and forth. Many who "fled" before the handover returned afterwards. In 21 years China will no longer owe them any special status. Obviously things are gradually changing in the meantime. It is still an international hub of finance filled with billionaires. Life doesn't look too dreary there.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Lutnick

the USA would lose that war if it was silly enough to start it.

[llaryllama]

Re: Lutnick

China literally has a popular colloquialism spread liberally across social media and by the upper echelons of the CCP: 留島不留人 literally meaning "keep the island, don't keep the people" - e.g. completely raze the place and build a new China on Taiwan.

I am not naive enough to think that the US has our best interests at heart but China explicitly wants to take us by force as soon as they are able, killing as many people as necessary as long as they aren't mainland Chinese. The rest of the world at best doesn't care about Taiwan or actively sides with China. So America is the lesser of many, many greater evils.

[The Organ Grinder's Monkey]

Re: Lutnick

I'd not claim any useful knowledge or understanding of geopolitics or global finance, but I'd guess that their stewardship of Hong-Kong hasn't been good for Hong-Kong? If I remember correctly a decent number of companies bailed out in 1997 & the place has been moribund ever since? Suspect that it provides something of a guide to a possible future for Taiwan under Chinese rule?

(Maybe totally wrong, happy to be corrected.)

[IamAProton]

Re: Lutnick

Comapnies bailed out also when they introduced teh NSL in more recent years (and also after they seen how logic and common sense went out of the window during covid-19 AKA Wuhan flu)

HK people has been replaced (not totally...yet) by chinese after covid and probably the replacement is still going on.

There are several examples about how HK govt. "works" now: it follows the law and change it very swiftly if it doesn't suit its needs. I'm sure foreign companies are well aware of this.

A notable example: Cathay Pacific "allegedly" did not hire any chinese pilot/cabin crew in the past. After this info got public (and a lot of pilots left becasue of covid) things changed: now the standards have been lowered to become First officer (due to lack of 1st officers) and some pilots barely speak english (I've heard)

[iron]

Also Intel

> Most of Nvidia's GPUs are made in Taiwan, as are AMD's processors and Qualcomm's smartphone chips.

And Intel. In some cases parts of and in other cases the entire silicon for their recent generations of chips are manufactured by TSMC.

[Aleph0]

Apart from the other reasons stated in TFA

There is little reason to honour verbal promises made at gunpoint, especially when the other party in the "deal" then goes on to acquire 10% of your competition.

[DJ]

No invasion required...

...when there's a jolly large moat about your patch.

A slowly tightening quarantine will do quite nicely.

Along with the embedded PLA folks already present on the little place.

This 'battle' is already over.

Mine's the one with one-way ticket off the island in the pocket.

[Joe Gurman]

Interesting way of listing TSMC customers….

Omitting, as it dies, their number 2 customer (and until very recently, number 1), Apple.

[Anonymous Coward]

America can blame itself for not having chip manufacturing facilities.

All the US companies that built them in the past, actually found they couldn't compete in America with foreign chip makers, so they sold off their plants or shut them down, and outsourced everything to the much cheaper east, to increase their quarterly profits, and increase the CEO's bonuses.

Just the usual American "Greed is good" philosophy, killing the golden goose.

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't dig chips out of the ground...

Which can be considered a blessing if you look at the middle east, but it does mean that shield can just disappear. Those that keep harping on Chyna wanting the chips don't understand the bigger picture. They are paranoid about an external force trying to split their country and TW is the unsinkable air craft carrier right on their doorstep. The USA wants to split up Chyna and they want that unsinkable air craft carrier! If you consider history, who makes the chips gets passed around like a torch, the US runs the games, do you think they actually care about who is carrying the torch? As long as they control where the chips end up and more importantly the bulk of the finished product profits go to them (the current admin is getting the imperialism model confused, you get the colonies to do all the hard work and extract their resources and labor cheap and then sell back the finished products back to them at a stupidly inflated price).

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: You don't dig chips out of the ground...

Oh look, another chinese AC shill

[mark l 2]

Why should the US or Taiwan government have any sway in where a business locates its manufacturing facilities in the first place? It not like it a state owned business. And no doubt the US it will be wanting TSMC to spend the millions of dollars to build these new fabs out of its own pockets.

Taiwan should just promise they will tell TSMC to relocate 50% manufacturing within the next 10 years, this will keep Trump happy and he will move on to something else then, as he has the attention span of a toddler. And by the time it actually comes to move make the move Trump will either be dead or out of office. Assuming free and democratic elections are still a thing in the US come the next election cycle which is far from a certainty the way things are going.

[lzb]

It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

No anonymity—yes, I am Chinese. Here I offer the perspective of most Chinese people.

When TSMC completely abandons the Chinese market and becomes a vassal of the United States, then whatever TSMC does will no longer concern the Chinese people. At most, it will become mere chatter over tea and meals. Since we hold no hope for it, what does it matter if TSMC goes to the US? What does it matter if Taiwan's industries are hollowed out? It's nothing but the delusions of Taiwan independence advocates.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[IamAProton]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

IIRC the PRC has yet to declare its independence from ROC, maybe they are waiting to complete the rejuvenation first, anyways once that's done they can work out the reunification thing. /s

[lzb]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

Oh, that's a mistake on your part, or rather, your understanding of history is incorrect. From October 1, 1949, when Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China and the Central People's Government, the history of the Republic of China came to a complete end. Oh, if you disagree, that's fine. But starting from October 25, 1971, when the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed Resolution 2758, the international history of the Republic of China also came to a complete end. From that point onward, the People's Republic of China is the sole China, the Central People's Government is the sole legitimate government representing all of China, and the One-China principle—this red line—has been accepted by the vast majority of countries worldwide. Taiwan Province is nothing more than a long-standing separatist armed rebellion within China's territory. Therefore, I say: We have never been concerned about TSMC's fate. The end of Taiwan Province's armed secession and the realization of China's reunification are merely matters of time.

[IamAProton]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

UN resolutions/ "international laws" are always cherry-picked picked by PRC/wu maos: wanna talk about the south china sea? ;-)

You can claim ROC does not exist anymore but there is a country with their own currency called like that, anyways it's 50+ years that PRC want to 'reunify' with ROC; with 2M soldiers and huge amount of resources they still don't dare to do it either because they do not trust their equipment/commitment/capabilities, are scared of the consequences or don't want to 'spend' the "reunification card" which is good to distract chinese people.

Seems you have access to the open internet, so it's trivial to find information on the subject and get a better understanding.

I agree about the reunification being imminent, ROC will eventually be the 'one china' with mainland Taiwan

I'm sorry if this post doesn't spread 'positive energy' ;-)

[lzb]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

What you're saying is meaningless. The Republic of China is long gone—the world only recognizes the People's Republic of China. Sure, we can discuss the South China Sea issue or any other topic, but your stubborn anti-China stance renders these discussions pointless. China has long possessed the capability to dominate the South China Sea and reunify Taiwan. Why hasn't it acted? You and your fellow anti-China elements should ponder that. If you witnessed the grand military parade on September 3, 2025, you should have found your answer. What we seek is peace and development, not war and turmoil. This message resonates with America, with Trump, and with most so-called Western nations that recognize strength. The U.S. no longer prioritizes Taiwan as its primary objective against China. In other words, as America gradually drains Taiwan's strategic value, it paradoxically advances the resolution of the Taiwan issue. With every step Taiwan's pro-independence forces take, the noose tightens around their necks. This isn't blind arrogance—it's confidence rooted in strength. The U.S. dared not provoke a South China Sea war in 2016. How much less would it dare now, a decade later, under the increasingly weakened America of Trump's presidency?

[IamAProton]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

This time the translator did a much better job, or is it just a different shift? ;-)

If this is a job you do to provide for your family I hope it's out of necessity, if not I suggest you not to read your own propaganda :)

Anyways, the "arguing on the internet" rule applies anyways.

[lzb]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

哦，你说翻译吗，我用的deepl，全是机翻，不是人翻。

Oh, you mean the translation? I used DeepL—it's all machine translation, not human translation.

[lzb]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

还有，如果你问我是否收钱办事。那我可以告诉你，我只是个月薪8000人民币的IT行业从业者。就你们这些反华分子而言，估计很难想象我说的都是真心话。不过也无所谓，我在像这样的英文平台看见太多和你们一样的了。如果你没有亲自来过中国，那么欢迎你来走走看看，看看真正的中国是什么样子，中国已经单方面给很多国家开放了免签入境政策，最近还是中国春节。

Also, if you ask whether I take money for favors, let me tell you this: I'm just an IT worker earning 8,000 RMB a month. For anti-China folks like you, it's probably hard to believe I'm speaking honestly. But it doesn't matter—I've seen plenty like you on English platforms like this one. If you've never visited China yourself, I invite you to come see for yourself what the real China is like. China has already unilaterally opened visa-free entry policies to many countries, and it's currently the Chinese New Year season.

[IamAProton]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

For the record I lived for almost a decade between HK and TW (and visited CN too).

It definitely gave me a better understanding of the whole picture, but not in a pro-commmies way ;)

[lzb]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

又是意识形态上头啊，那没有什么可以和你说了，当然了这里还得反驳你一点，香港特别行政区和台湾省都是中国。PS：给你推荐一个节目《这就是中国》。

It's all about ideology again, huh? Well, there's nothing more to discuss with you then. Of course, I still need to counter one point: both the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province are part of China. PS: I recommend a show called “This Is China.”

[IamAProton]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

""This is China" is a documentary co-produced by China and Russia" I think I'll pass on that show.

I would recommend you to read some from various sources that you cannot reach without the use of a VPN ( but rememner, now VPN in PRC need to be approved by the government so you might get in trouble just for reading some stuff. Random topics on top of my mind: June 4th '89, Great leap forward, Covid-19.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

You are offering the perspective of the chinese state propaganda after many decades of indoctrination...

[lzb]

Re: It doesn't matter, or rather, nobody cares.

Anonymous, heh. Well then, let me turn the question back on you: what about you grassroots folks brainwashed by Western media? If you still believe the China portrayed by Western outlets, I suggest you come see China for yourself. Two years ago, China unilaterally opened its doors to visa-free entry for the vast majority of countries worldwide. You could travel freely across China for a fortnight without any hassle. And with the Chinese New Year just around the corner, you're welcome to come experience the real China.

[Anonymous Coward]

Instant mindset

It took Taiwan, a tiny island compared to the continent of America, five decades to build up the entire semi-conductor ecosystem. Even Taiwan is willing to help it's not possible to be done in a few years. The entire ecosystem of TSMC (or other big companies) suppliers is within a few hours of driving distance. Many of them are small companies and their engineers are willing to sacrifice their comfort to meet TSMC demands and troubleshoot virtually on demand. Are Americans willing to do that? Is Trump administration willing to pay for relocating these small companies? Will labor unions allow engineers to work on demand on weekends and nights?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Instant mindset

I think you are under estimating the indomitable will of the Great Leader and his power to achieve the impossible with merely a tweet.

Chip production will move to the USA and costs will be reduced by a 1000% if he says so.

Thank you for your attention to this matter

[Boothy]

Reshoring?

Quote: A Department of Commerce release cast the agreement as a "massive reshoring of America's semiconductor sector."

Erm, America's semiconductor sector is still in the USA, small and far behind in comparison to Taiwan's.

The semiconductor sector in Taiwan, is Taiwan's, nothing to do with the USA other than they are the biggest customers for Taiwan's industry.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Reshoring?

>America's semiconductor sector is still in the USA

But it's not on the shore.

Obviously onshoring means you have to build the fabs on a beach somewhere, probably in Florida

[The Organ Grinder's Monkey]

Re: Reshoring?

Which will likely be underwater at some point, possibly even within my remaining lifetime. Still, it'll help with process cooling, eh?

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Reshoring?

These are Silicon chips, where do you get Silicon? On the beach of course

[jpennycook]

This feels like a protection racket, except that if a significant amount of chip manufacturing moved from Taiwan to USA, China could feel happier about invading (less impact on their own supply chains when Taiwan nukes its own chip factories) and America could feel happier about not providing any defence.

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Which is great if you're an Intel shareholder. Less good if you are a military-industrial complex needing all the non-AI cheap silicon made on China.

So we have strategic source of 2nm GPUs but no power transistors

[RoboJ1M]

I'm sorry, WHAT?!?

I just...

REALLY??

"Move half of your business to the USA"

They actually think a nation can demand another nation to give them a sizeable chunk of their GDP. For real.

And wtf is this "restoring American semiconductor industry"?

How exactly is Taiwan's chip business AMERICA'S?? It's been, what, 50 years of Taiwanese investment in the science, engineering and construction into this industry.

Who tf does America think they are?

The leading chip industry in the entire world and America thinks they stole it and run it.

I guarantee you it's because they're not white, because OF COURSE these silly little Asians couldn't possibly have done this themselves, right?

Absolutely disgusting behaviour.

The rest of the world has spent decades and billions developing their own industries, European lithography, Korean ship building, German heavy industry, British engineering services, french nuclear, polish arms.

We spent the time and the money and America wants to steal it all because they haven't done anything outside of Facebook, they don't push federal investments out to foster this kind of stuff.

No, get stuffed and remain poor until you spend your own damn money on your own damn nation.