The agreement seeks to bring a sizable portion of Taiwan’s electronics supply chain to the US. In return, chips from Taiwan will see no or reduced tariffs.
The US has reached a trade deal with Taiwan that fends off the threat of huge tariffs on cutting-edge chips from TSMC, the major semiconductor manufacturer for AMD, Apple, and Nvidia.
The deal, announced on Thursday by the Commerce Department, calls for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry to make investments of “at least $250 billion” to build and expand their chip manufacturing in the US. Commerce says the deal will “drive a massive reshoring of America’s semiconductor sector,” and pave the way for a “full semiconductor supply chain and ecosystem in the United States” when most chip production currently occurs in Asia.
In return, the Trump administration is planning to exempt Taiwanese companies from paying future tariffs on chips imported into the US. Although Trump’s semiconductor-focused tariffs have been delayed, the White House has still been preparing them through a legal authority called Section 232, which enables the president to tariff specific goods over national security concerns, following an investigation.
