TSMC Taiwan Geopolitics

so.. shouldn't US take stake in TSMC instead?

TSMC's fab is in Taiwan, not PRC.Given the critical nature of semiconductors, if China invaded Taiwan it's hard to see the US not getting involved.TSMC is Taiwan's largest company.

This is a major geopolitical decission. TSMC is responisble for 1/3 of chips worldwide (in an industry with few players). China's claim on Taiwan has a lot to do with that.

Less so that thought. TSMC is Chinese via it being Taiwanese. No disparagement of regional uniqueness or actual ownership, just its success is a success of the Chinese people (into which Taiwanese are included). China will not substantially harm TSMC when it is so successful at destroying American dominance in a key industry. Taiwan and China are very much aligned when it comes to TSMC.Maintaining a US native foundry might actually be a way to prevent war because one of the key triggers migh

Taiwan doesn't own TSMC. They don't tell TSMC how to do business any more than the US government dictates to Intel. I'm sure it wields influence, of course. The US government offers incentives for companies to build foundries in the US, and there's a large pool of skilled workers in the industry in that area. Also Taiwan is a small country, so it's quite possible TSMC needs to expand internationally in order to be able to scale up it's business.

If TSMC wasn't around, I think it could be argued that China would have tried to take over/invaded long before now. So if you are the government of Taiwan, helping TSMC out is in your best interest.

TSMC just stopped making chips for one of its biggest customers just because the U.S. passed a law. They're building a big facility in Arizona just to satisfy the economic nationalists in the U.S. Plus, Samsung is also outside of China, and while their technology is behind TSMC, they are fairly competitive. I don't think any ties Taiwan has with China are very worrying in this case.TSMC's ties with the U.S. are, on the other hand, a big strategic threat to China, and maybe to o

I would say yes. Speculation follows: If the unthinkable happens, and assuming it devolves into a cold rather than a hot war (eg the Trump administration decide not to send soldiers and weapons to Taiwan but let the Chinese have the island), then US TSMC is appropriated, Intel or AMD or Qualcomm are told to run it, and all three are instructed to ramp up manufacturing capacity as aggressively as possible. If it's more like the status quo saber rattling, then I think USG would still want a 1

Somewhat related - look at the largest companies in Taiwan - a large number of them are in the advanced electronics manufacturing space (Pegatron and TSMC for instance).TSMC - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is arguably one of the most important companies in the world, manufacturing chips for Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and many more. The barrier to entry for semiconductor fabrication is so ridiculously high, not even Apple owns its own foundries. Intel has been struggling with 7nm proces

US tariffs on China are worse for Taiwanese independence than TSMC building fabs in the US.