Economic Minister J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said on Wednesday that progress on TSMC’s Arizona plant is going smoothly, and should be able to move on to mass production as scheduled.
Kuo’s statements were in response to conjecture following former TSMC Chairman Mark Liu’s (劉德音) keynote speech at the Economic Development Commision Advisory Meeting on Tuesday. Liu said that the establishment of the Arizona plant had not been as smooth as in Japan. Rumors swirled following Liu’s admission, that TSMC had possibly been forced to go to the U.S. because of geopolitics.
However, Kuo refuted those claims Wednesday at the opening ceremony of SEMICON Taiwan 2024. He said world-class companies that want to invest, will fully evaluate a situation before a move as drastic as establishing a new base. In the case of TSMC, Kuo pointed out that two main factors–where the market is, and if the location has the necessary resources, both likely lead to the decision to establish in Arizona. As almost all of its markets are in the U.S., it makes sense to be close to that market.
Kuo also mentioned that, to his knowledge, TSMC’s current investment status is progressing as planned. While still in the trial stage, it is on track to begin mass production as scheduled.
Media outlets also asked Kuo about the difficulties with the Chinese market amid the conflict between the U.S. and China. Kuo said that the government's position is to help companies find the best customers and meet manufacturing goals to maintain a competitive edge.