The U.S. Department of Commerce and TSMC signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of understanding to increase direct subsidies by $66 billion under the CHIPS Act. TSMC also stated that it will build a third wafer fab in Arizona, and plans to provide its advanced semiconductor process technology within the United States.
TSMC said that it has made progress in completing the first wafer fab and will continue to build the second wafer fab in Arizona. It also plans to build the third wafer fab to meet the wafer foundry needs in the United States.
Including the construction cost of the third wafer fab, TSMC's capital investment in Arizona will exceed US$650 billion, and it will be the world's largest wafer fab. It will also be the largest foreign direct investment case in Arizona's history and the largest foreign direct greenfield investment case in the United States in history.
TSMC plans to provide advanced process technology in the United States, thereby offering foundry services to its US partners. The first fab is expected to begin producing wafers using 2025nm process technology in the first half of 4. The second fab, in addition to offering 3nm process technology, plans to invest in 2nm process technology, with production expected to begin in 2028.
The planned third fab will offer 2nm or higher-level process technology and is expected to enter production by 2030. Like all of TSMC's current advanced process fabs, the cleanroom areas of the three Arizona fabs are approximately twice the size of typical logic fabs.
In addition to providing $66 billion in direct subsidies, the preliminary memorandum of understanding also proposes providing TSMC with a loan of up to $50 billion. TSMC also plans to apply to the U.S. Treasury for an investment tax credit of up to 25% on eligible capital expenditures for the Arizona plant.
In the announcement, TSMC also quoted statements from partners including AMD CEO Lisa Su, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, emphasizing that establishing a factory in Arizona will help promote industrial growth in the United States. It is also expected to directly create approximately 6000 high-tech, high-paying jobs, and will also allow more U.S. companies to directly use TSMC's advanced process technology foundry resources.
