>It doesn't matter if fabs are in the US, or not. Countries like Taiwan and South Korea are close allies with the US, and go along with their export bans, too.
That's exactly the point, today they are allies but tomorrow they may decide their own interests are more important. The US-based production does not have such privilege. E.g. at a certain moment in future Samsung may decide that the US market is not too important for them and they are willing to risk losing it e.g. in favour of the Chinese market. They will not have this choice if their production is in the US rather than in S. Korea or Vietnam.
>To really be secure from US sanctions, you'd need to put together a fab in one of the countries perpetually on US sanction lists, already.
These countries cannot even sell crude oil under the US sanctions let alone high-tech products. It is rather a rich, developed and mostly self-sustained country like China that can play against the US sanctions and hope to win in the long run (which I think they will).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
