Taiwan Semiconductor CEO, Taiwan President To Discuss $100 Billion US Expansion, 'Not Afraid' Of Losing US Subsidies

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te and contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co TSM Chair and CEO C.C. Wei held a press briefing on Thursday at 5 pm local time in Taipei, Bloomberg reports.

Wei said it was “not afraid” of losing Washington’s subsidies for its massive U.S. investments, the Financial Times reports from the joint press conference. The stock is trading lower on Thursday.

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Earlier this week, the Taiwanese contract chipmaker announced plans to invest another $100 billion in its U.S. facilities in addition to its existing investment of $65 billion.

President Donald Trump has been critical of Taiwan in his campaign for allegedly stealing the U.S. semiconductor position and running massive trade deficits with the country. Trump threatened retaliatory tariffs against the island country, which relies on the U.S. for military backing against a China invasion.

Any additional U.S. investment made by TSMC would require Taiwan’s government’s approval. Taiwan maintained that the country would continue to be the key advanced semiconductor headquarters in response to reports indicating it was migrating its advanced technology to the U.S. under duress.

Trump also suggested scrapping U.S. subsidies to chipmakers to build fabs in the country to boost its semiconductor position.

In a separate update, Qualcomm Inc QCOM chief Cristiano Amon hailed Taiwan Semiconductor’s U.S. investment and told CNBC that it would help diversify chipmaking locations. He noted that longer-term technology trends would outweigh any short-term uncertainty regarding Trump’s tariffs.

Amon told CNBC that some of Qualcomm’s chips are already manufactured in Taiwan Semiconductor’s existing plants in Arizona, and the company will eventually produce more semiconductors in the U.S.

Amon highlighted upgrades for AI smartphones, AI PCs, and cars becoming computers as key technology trends likely to support Qualcomm’s business in the long term over the short-term tariff uncertainty.

IDC expects the Taiwanese contract chipmaker to command a 67% share of the global foundry market in 2025.

Price Action: TSM stock is down 2.87% at $178.99 premarket at the last check Thursday.

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