TSMC to increase investment in Arizona to $40B as Biden visits chip manufacturer

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is set to announce it will increase its investment in Arizona from $12 billion to $40 billion when President Biden visits the chip manufacturer on Tuesday.

It will be the largest foreign investment in Arizona history and one of the largest in U.S. history.

TSMC will also announce it will build a second facility in Arizona that will produce 3-nanometer chips by 2026. Those chips are the most advanced semiconductors on the market today, according to White House officials.

TSMC, based in Taiwan, is the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple. The company is currently constructing a plant in Phoenix to start production of 5-nanometer chips in 2024.

Biden will highlight his efforts to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing while in Arizona. The president in August signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides billions of dollars in incentives to the domestic semiconductor industry. The law aims to help the U.S. compete with China, which has its own chip market.

Officials on Monday said the TSMC Arizona facility isn’t receiving subsidies from the chips bill at this point, but that the guidance for subsidies that outlines criteria for eligibility will be released in early 2023.

Officials said that the bill “made a clear signal that the United States was going to prioritize establishing leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.”

For the announcements on Tuesday, Biden will be joined by Apple CEO Tim Cook, TSMC founder Morris Chang, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs (D), among others.