President Trump says Taiwan 'took our chip business away, and we want that business back'

President Trump is putting pressure on TSMC after saying he would have semiconductor tariffs, accusing TSMC of stealing the United States' chip business.

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President Trump told reporters at The White House: "Right now, everything is made in Taiwan practically. Almost all of it, a little bit in South Korea. But everything, almost all of it is made in Taiwan. Taiwan took our chip business away. We had Intel, we had these great companies that did so well. It was taken from us. And we want that business back. We want it back in the United States. If they don't bring it back, we're not going to be very happy".

A TSMC spokesperson said: "We don't break down [capital expenditures] by market but some will apply to Arizona, where the second of three planned fabs is currently under construction".

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President Trump continued, commenting on chip manufacturing after signing an executive order that will see his administration investigate "reciprocal tariffs" on foreign nations. President Trurmp added: "There could be some short-term disturbance, but long-term it's gonna make our country a fortune. If you build here, you'll have no tariffs whatsoever, and I think that's what's going to happen. I think our country is going to be flooded with jobs".

• Read more: TSMC rumored to be working on advanced chip packaging plant in the USA, would avoid tariffs

President Trump is pushing for the technology and semiconductor industries to move chip manufacturing to the United States, so it will be interesting to see what TSMC's next move is from here. There are fresh rumors that the US government could see a tech transfer with Intel and TSMC, with TSMC helping out Intel Foundry secure customers like Apple for US semiconductor production.