The White House talking with Intel, TSMC to set up factories in the US

The news of shifting over some manufacturing from Asia to the US isn't new, with news that Trump wanted TSMC and Foxconn to consider moving to the US for manufacturing breaking in January 2017 -- right as Donald Trump was being inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States.

But now, there are renewed talks between the Trump administration and Intel and TSMC about moving production to the US for some of its chip factories. Intel might already have a big presence in the US, but the talks with Intel could see Team Blue opening up a foundry that other companies could use to make products.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a "new crop of cutting-edge chip factories in the US would reshape the industry and mark a U-turn after decades of expansion into Asia by many American companies eager to reap investment incentives and take part in a robust regional supply chain".

As it stands the US (and the world) are heavily reliant on TSMC making some of the most advanced chips in the world, but they're all the way in Taiwan. If there were a war, conflict, or even a natural disaster then it could bring the world and chip production, to its knees.

The WSJ reports that they spoke to a TSMC spokesperson who said that the Taiwanese company was "actively evaluating" making plants in other countries. TSMC adds that there was "no concrete plan" on this right now.

Another concern is if Intel were making chips for other companies, let's say -- AMD, how would their secrets be safe? This is a major issue, and something that would need to be ironed out.