The official website of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) under the US Department of Commerce disclosed an important news: TSMC, a large chip manufacturer, and Intel, a US chip giant, both submitted letters of opinion to the US Department of Commerce, clearly expressing their opposition to the imposition of tariffs on semiconductors and related equipment and materials.
TSMC emphasized in its letter of opinion that the imposition of tariffs on semiconductor production equipment will bring a series of negative effects. This will not only lead to a significant increase in production costs, but may also delay project schedules, and even in some cases, endanger the commercial viability of many announced and under-consideration projects. Based on this, TSMC made a targeted suggestion that tariff exemptions should be granted for products that are difficult to produce in the United States.
In recent years, TSMC has launched a large-scale investment layout in Arizona, the United States. The company plans to invest up to US$165 billion to build 6 wafer fabs, 2 advanced packaging plants and 1 R&D center. Among them, the first wafer fab has successfully achieved mass production of 4-nanometer products in the fourth quarter of 2024. As a pure wafer foundry company in the world, TSMC has many major customers, such as Apple, AMD, Nvidia and Intel. At present, TSMC has started mass production of Apple chips in the Arizona plant. However, despite certain progress, the production capacity of the Arizona plant scheduled until the end of 2027 has been sold in advance, and TSMC also admitted that the current production capacity is still difficult to meet the huge demand of the global market.
From the perspective of industry development, TSMC's investment plan in Arizona, the United States, is of great strategic significance. This is not only a key link in its global layout, but also helps to ease the tight global semiconductor supply. With the mass production of the first wafer plant, TSMC's production capacity in the United States will gradually increase, which will further consolidate its leading position in the global semiconductor industry.
The background of the US semiconductor tariff investigation this time is the continued tension in the global semiconductor supply chain. In such an environment, countries are actively seeking effective ways to ensure the security of their own industries, so they remain highly vigilant about changes in the US tariff policy. The voices of companies such as TSMC and Intel reflect the urgent need of the semiconductor industry to stabilize tariff policies. The stability of tariff policies is directly related to the production costs, project progress and market competitiveness of enterprises. If tariffs are too high, it will increase the operating costs of enterprises, affect their investment decisions and production plans, and thus have an adverse impact on the development of the global semiconductor industry.
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