© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A smartphone with the TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) logo attached to a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC said on Monday it was contacting Washington about its “guidance” for a law designed to boost U.S. semiconductor manufacturing that has raised concerns about subsidy criteria.
Conditions for the subsidies include sharing excess profits with the US government, and industry sources have said the application process itself could expose sensitive corporate strategy.
“We can confirm that we are communicating with the US government about the CHIPS ACT guidance,” TSMC, the world’s leading contract chipmaker, said in a brief emailed statement.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol also said last month that the criteria worry companies including Samsung Electronics (OTC:) Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc.
Taiwan’s Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters on Monday that TSMC was specifically talking to the United States about the details of the subsidies.
“Taiwan’s government and industry have a very close understanding (of what is happening) and hope that the details of the relevant subsidy legislation will not affect the industrial cooperation between the two parties and the costs of industry-related construction. “, said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) is investing $40 billion in a new plant in the western US state of Arizona to support Washington’s plans to ramp up chip manufacturing at home.
Details of the expected subsidies for the plant have not been disclosed.
The subsidies would come from a pool of $52 billion of research and manufacturing funds allocated under the CHIPS Act.
The US Commerce Department said last month that it will protect sensitive business information and expects the excess profit sharing requirement to only occur when projects significantly exceed projected cash flow.