By Wen-Yee Lee
TAIPEI (Reuters) -The CEO of chipmaker TSMC will hold a press conference at Taiwan’s presidential office at 5:00 p.m. local time (0900 GMT) on Thursday, the president’s office said, days after the company announced major investment in the U.S. which requires government approval.
No further details were given.
Earlier this week, the world’s largest contract chipmaker announced a fresh $100 billion investment in the U.S. that involves building five additional chip facilities there amid threats from the U.S. President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on semiconductor imports.
Trump has repeatedly criticised Taiwan, saying it has taken away American semiconductor business and that he wants manufacturing to return to the United States.
Taiwan’s cabinet said on Tuesday it would review the investment in line with its laws, which require government approval for any large overseas investment by a Taiwan company, but that it viewed overseas investments that would raise Taiwan’s overall competitiveness positively.
Taiwan’s presidential office said earlier its review would also consider the interests of investors and Taiwan.
Taiwan’s dominant position as a maker of chips used in technology from cellphones and cars to fighter jets has sparked concerns of over-reliance on the island, especially as China ramps up pressure to assert its sovereignty claims.
As a key manufacturing partner to Nvidia, Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices, TSMC is central to the U.S. chip industry, and bringing more of its production to U.S. soil would solve a major supply chain risk for those firms.
Its fresh investment in the U.S., however, faces risks of steep cost increases.
Trump said on Tuesday U.S. lawmakers should get rid of a landmark 2022 bipartisan law to give $52.7 billion in subsidies for semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. and use the proceeds to pay debt.
In the final weeks of the Biden administration, the Commerce Department finalised more than $33 billion in awards including $6.6 billion for TSMC.
(Reporting by Wen-Yee Lee; Writing by Brenda Goh and Miyoung Kim; Editing by Kim Coghill and Elaine Hardcastle)
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