TSMC is reportedly mulling another round of expansion in the U.S., which will expand its capacity in Arizona to 12 fabs, four advanced packaging facilities, and at least one R&D center, if the recent rumors published by DigiTimes are to be believed. The said round of TSMC's expansion in America will work as a part of the intergovernmental deal between the U.S. and Taiwanese governments under which Taiwanese entities are to invest $500 billion in various American high-tech sectors.

Rumors about TSMC's plans to significantly expand its site near Phoenix, Arizona, have been floating around for some time, but the company has never confirmed them. Back in early March, it was reported that TSMC planned to expand its presence in Arizona to 10 advanced fabs, but DigiTimes now claims that the company is looking forward to building another Gigafab complex adjacent to Fab 21, bringing the number of fabs to 12 and increasing the number of advanced packaging facilities to four. For now, this should be considered a rumor because some numbers do not add up.

TSMC recently acquired approximately 900 acres of land adjacent to its existing 1,100-acre campus, bringing the total area of the site to 2,000 acres, which is comparable to a small town, according to market rumors. The acquisition, along with industry chatter about plans to increase investments in Arizona by another $100 billion, certainly supports the possibility of a major expansion of the Fab 21 and possibly another site in the region. TSMC's existing plan includes building six Fab 21 modules, two advanced packaging facilities, and one R&D facility, up from three Fab 21 modules planned initially.

The comments are a response to the recent statements by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said that concentrating a large portion of global semiconductor production close to China represented a strategic vulnerability. He also indicated that the goal of the U.S. government is to increase the country's share of the market of leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing to 40% in three years, by the end of President Trump's current term.

How that can be possible, given the fact that it takes three years to build a fab in the U.S. and then about a year to ramp it, is something Lutnick did not disclose. Yet he warned that if such goals are not achieved, tariffs on Taiwan-made goods could potentially increase to as much as 100%.

In earlier remarks, Lutnick also described a scenario in which leading-edge semiconductor production could be split roughly evenly between Taiwan and the United States, which indicates that the U.S. government has a fairly flexible position when it comes to actual market share numbers.

By contrast, Taiwanese officials reiterated that there are no plans to relocate the island's science parks, which form the core of its semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem, and are indispensable parts of the country's so-called silicon shield. Nonetheless, Taiwan authorities have no problems with TSMC expanding overseas as long as its most advanced technologies remain in Taiwan.

By: DocMemory
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