Taiwan’s silicon shield It has definitely fallen. The government of this island was determined to protect its economic interests preventing TSMC from manufacturing integrated circuits abroad using your most advanced lithography nodes. This plan entered into conflict with the expansionist strategy of the semiconductor manufacturer most important on the planetespecially at a juncture in which the US is forcing the displacement of chips manufacturers to their own territory.
“Since Taiwan has regulations that seek to protect their own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2 nm chips abroad today,” Jw Kuo saidMinister of Economic Affairs of Taiwan, on November 8 during a meeting of the Taipéi Economy Committee. “Although TSMC PLANS MANUFACTURE 2 NM CHIPS Abroad in the future, its central technology will remain in Taiwan. “
Kuo’s statements reflected at that time that TSMC could not produce integrated 2 Nm circuits in the US or Europe until it was ready its lithography A14 (1.4 Nm). From that moment the latter would remain in Taiwan and could move the production of 2 Nm chips to other countries. For TSMC this restriction was a problem. And it was because the demand for its most advanced integrated circuits is very high because of the undoubted success that semiconductors are having for applications of artificial intelligence (AI).
Chips manufactured by TSMC in the US will be 30% more expensive, according to Walter Bloomberg
Finally, the Taiwan government has moderated its protectionist strategy. Jw Kuo He pronounced again In the middle of last January to declare that TSMC may produce 2 Nm chips in its US plants, although the Taiwanese administration will cautiously evaluate the use of this technology in the country led by Donald Trump. “Private companies must make their own commercial decisions covered in their own technological progress (…) TSMC is building factories in the US with the purpose of serving their US clients because 60% of the world’s chips designer companies are based precisely in the US. “
Lisa su and CC Wei have taught the first EPYC ‘Venice’ chip produced in the N2 (2 nm) node of TSMC
Today, just four months later, we can be sure that the manufacture of integrated 2 NM circuits on a large scale in the TSMC plants in Arizona (USA) will arrive. Lisa her, the general director of AMD, and CC Wei, the president and general director of TSMC, have taught the first Epyc Chip ‘Venice’ produced in node N2 (2 nm) of this last company. This CPU has been manufactured in Taiwan, but both managers They have confirmed their commitment When strengthening the production of the plants that TSMC is putting ready in Arizona.
The first of these factories is about to produce large -scale chips, but its plan does not end here. The second plant will be operational in 2028 and will produce integrated circuits in N3 (3 Nm) and N2 (2 Nm) nodes. And finally, the third factory will not be listed at all until the end of this decade and will produce chips in the N2 (2 nm) node. At the current situation and under the pressure of the US government, which is Pertrechado with its tariff policyit is very likely that the production of 2 Nm semiconductors in Arizona arrives long before 2028. It is not official information, but in the current circumstances it is a very reasonable forecast.
However, there is something else that is worth not overlooking. According to G. Dan HutchesonAnalyst in Techinsights, producing a 300 mm wafer in the new Arizona plant costs TSMC less than 10% more than manufacturing that same wafer in one of its Taiwan facilities. It is explained by something that we should not overlook: the cost derived from labor represents less than 2% of the total cost.
However, according to the financial journalist Walter Bloomberg TSMC will increase the price of integrated circuits produced by 30% in the US to compensate for the costs triggered by tariffs on the production equipment of imported chips from Europe and Japan. The Government led by Donald Trump has not yet revealed how the import tariffs of photolithography machines used by TSMC, Intel or Samsung plants in the US will affect the import tariffs. Will do it within a period Not exceeding two months. But it seems that Bloomberg assumes that the increase in chips will arrive. We’ll see.
Image | TSMC
More information | Walter Bloomberg | Tom’s hardware
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