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Weekend Reads
As the United States seeks to strengthen its semiconductor industry—a national security imperative amid rising competition with China—the next four years will be crucial. Policymakers and industry professionals need a comprehensive strategy to build on the Trump administration’s efforts to reshore this critical supply chain.
Jason Hsu hosted representatives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), ASML, Tokyo Electron, and MediaTek to discuss this strategy. Their key takeaways are below.
Watch the event, listen to the podcast, or read the transcript.
Key Insights
1. The US needs a comprehensive semiconductor strategy to build on its momentum.
“We manufacture in Connecticut. We manufacture in California. We have a big presence [in Arizona]. So we are heavily invested and plan to continue to invest in this as the semiconductor industry grows. We plan to support that and play a critical role across the board. But what I think as we think about the future, I think the CHIPS Act was a great step forward. . . . It was started under the first Trump administration and carried forward in the last administration. [But] what was a little bit lacking was a comprehensive plan. So, what is it that we want to do in the United States? How much do we want to make? What is our strategy to build out that plan overall? And I think there’s an opportunity for industry to collaborate closely with this administration, with Congress, to help develop and fulfill that plan going forward.”
— Jonathan Hoganson, Head of US Government Affairs, ASML
2. To make America competitive, policymakers need to create an attractive regulatory environment.
“The reason leading-edge manufacturing has fled the US is because we messed up the ecosystem. . . . This is a fight. This is a competition. So we need to make sure that America is the best place to invest. We have the best engineering talent, we have the best research and development, we have the best tax policy, we have the best regulatory environment. That’s how you win. And there’s just no shortcut for that.”
— Patrick Wilson, Vice President of Government Relations, MediaTek
3. Reshoring the semiconductor industry has massive economic benefits.
“The development of the [semiconductor] industry is really important for the growth of jobs in the United States—good-paying high-wage jobs, good skills, recruiting people who don’t necessarily need college degrees for roles as field service technicians and engineers—but also US economic security, US national security. . . . We’ve seen examples, both in Taiwan and Japan and elsewhere around the world, of governments that are really working hand in glove with industry to create unbelievable developments that have huge impacts on the local economy and on the country’s GDP. And one of my favorite stats from the Semiconductor Industry Association is that every dollar of funding that the federal government spends in [research and development] results in $16.50 in US GDP growth.”
— Paul Treadgold, Director of Government Affairs, Tokyo Electron
Quotes may be edited for clarity and length.
Go Deeper
To combat Chinese authoritarianism, the US needs to lead the future of innovation, safeguard technological dominance, and ensure that artificial intelligence serves democratic values. In a new policy memo, Nury Turkel explains how.
On China Insider, Miles Yu discussed TSMC’s $100 billion investment in its US facilities and how this deal reaffirms the company’s commitment to US-based semiconductor production.
Bryan Clark, Dan Patt, and Nadia Schadlow identify inexpensive reforms that leverage America’s commercial advantages—particularly in electronics, software, and advanced manufacturing—to prepare the US military for rapid mobilization.
