Taipei [Taiwan] August 23 : Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei confirmed Friday night that the US government will not seek an ownership stake in the chipmaking giant, reported by Focus Taiwan.
"They (the Trump administration) have announced they will not take a stake (in TSMC)," Wei told reporters, according to the news platform.
Echoing Wei's statement, a TSMC spokesperson told Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) on Saturday that the company had never discussed US government ownership and that no such request had been made.
The initial Reuters article, citing unnamed sources, claimed the US was considering equity in firms like TSMC that are receiving federal funding to build fabrication plants in America. However, a US official later told The Wall Street Journal that there were no such plans, specifically naming TSMC and Micron as companies that would not be subject to any equity requirements.
Despite the clarification, the Reuters report caused jitters in the market, with TSMC shares dropping 4.22 per cent in Taipei on concerns about potential government interference.
Adding his voice to the debate, Pegatron Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien referenced former US President Ronald Reagan's famous remark: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem," urging the US government not to interfere in private companies' operations.
As reported by the Focus Taiwan, TSMC is currently investing USD 65 billion to build three advanced semiconductor fabs in Arizona, with the first already in commercial production since late 2024. In March, the company announced an additional USD 100 billion investment in the state over the next few years, which includes plans for three more fabs, two IC assembly plants, and a research and development center.
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