TSMC begins preparations for US fab construction

TSMC’s board of directors has approved a 3.5 billion dollar investment to establish a fab in Arizona. The investment is part of the plan that the foundry announced in May to build a 12 billion dollar 5nm chip factory there, likely in response to the escalating semiconductor trade war between China and the US. Being caught in the crossfire of these tensions, the company wants to spread out its manufacturing locations. Currently, TSMC only has two production facilities outside Taiwan, neither of which operates at the leading edge. The US fab, targeted to begin production in 2024, will also trail by at least one node, as TSMC’s 3nm production is slated to start in 2022 – in a fab on Taiwanese soil.