Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC has announced a second US semiconductor manufacturing unit in addition to the one already under construction in Arizona. While the first should go into production in 2024 with 4 nm engraving technology, the second is planned for 2026 with 3 nm technology. The investment plan, which was $12 billion for the first plant, has more than tripled to a total of $40 billion for the two plants.

With this project, the Taiwanese company intends to create “10,000 well-paid jobs in high technology”, including 4,500 directly at TMSC. Once operational, the two factories will produce more than 600,000 wafers per year with a final value of $40 billion.

The announcement was made official on Tuesday, December 6 during a ceremony for the installation of the first production equipment. It took place in the presence of US President Joe Biden and the leaders of TSMC’s largest US customers, including those of Apple, Nvidia and AMD.

It is a success for the Biden administration, which is fighting for the production of advanced chips to be repatriated to American soil, in particular through generous public subsidies as part of the $52 billion Chips Act for America plan.

This “major step” is “the largest foreign direct investment in the history of Arizona and it is one of the largest in the history of the United States”, reminded the press Brian Deese, adviser of the White House for economic matters.

But the major challenge for the United States is to break its dependence on imports of certain advanced electronic components, most of whose supply still comes from Asia. An even more crucial issue with TSMC due to geopolitical tensions around Taiwan. The manufacturer finally resolved to move part of its production capacity, even if it remains constrained by the Taipei government to maintain a technological generation in advance in the country.

TSMC is far from the only one to respond to the pressures and promises of subsidies from the American administration. Samsung, GlobalFoundries, Micron Technology have also put forward investment plans worth tens of billions of dollars. Without forgetting of course those of the national giant Intel.