A new crop of cutting-edge chip factories in the U.S. would reshape the industry and mark a U-turn after decades of expansion into Asia by many American companies eager to reap investment incentives and take part in a robust regional supply chain.

Men amerikanske myndigheter er ikke bare bekymret for Kina. Også avhengigheten av Taiwan blir sett på som et problem. Der ligger en av verdens tre store chip-selskap.

Administration officials say they are particularly concerned about reliance on Taiwan, the self-governing island China claims as its own, and the home of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.,TSM -2.48% the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer and one of only three companies capable of making the fastest, most-cutting-edge chips.

Amerikanske myndigheter er mest opptatt av at selskapet kommer fra et vennligsinnet land. Da kan det godt få bygge fabrikker i USA. Det gjelder taiwanske TSM som er i drøftinger med Intel. Men det gjelder også sør-koreanske Samsung.

USA våknet sent til utfordringen fra Huawei, og forsøker nå å ta igjen det tapte, ikke minst pga avhengigheten av Kina som ble avdekket pga coronaen.

Some U.S. officials are also interested in trying to help South Korea’s Samsung ElectronicsCo., which already operates a chip factory in Austin, Texas, to expand its contract-manufacturing operations in the U.S. to produce more advanced chips, according to a person familiar with the matter.

I et brev til Pentagon 28. april skriver CEO or Intel, Bob Swan:

“We currently think it is in the best interest of the United States and of Intel to explore how Intel could operate a commercial U.S. foundry to supply a broad range of microelectronics,” the letter said.

 

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