TSMC says Arizona plant unlikely to get latest chip tech before Taiwan due to red tape
The CEO of major Apple supplier TSMC says that complex compliance issues, local construction regulations, and extensive permitting requirements — in essence, significant red tape — will likely prevent the company’s new U.S. plant from receiving its most advanced chip technology before its factories in Taiwan.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co CEO and Chairman C.C. Wei said building the new factory in Arizona has taken at least twice as long as in Taiwan, in comments detailing specific challenges for the U.S. as it seeks to rebuild its domestic chip manufacturing sector.
“Every step requires a permit, and after the permit is approved, it takes at least twice as long as in Taiwan,” Wei said late on Thursday at a National Taiwan University event. He added that it would therefore be hard for TSMC to use its latest technology in the U.S. before Taiwan.
TSMC, the dominant maker of advanced chips used by companies including Apple and Nvidia is spending $65 billion on three giant factories in the U.S state of Arizona.
At the university event, Wei said a shortage of skilled workers and gaps in the supply chain, as well as a lack of regulations involving chip plant construction, have further extended the timeline for its Arizona project… “We ended up establishing 18,000 rules, which cost us $35 million,” Wei said, noting that TSMC funded the hiring of a team of experts to work with the local government on regulatory issues.
He added that chemical supply costs in the U.S. are five times those in Taiwan, leading TSMC to ship sulphuric acid from Taiwan to Los Angeles and then truck it to Arizona.
MacDailyNews Take: Remember President Trump’s “One-In, Two-Out” January 2017 executive order that directed federal agencies to repeal two federal regulations for every new one they issued? Let’s make that “One-In, Ten-Out” this term.
Under such an order, would-be regulators will naturally be more likely to pause and think about whether regulation is actually necessary on a case-by-case basis. Only important regulation will happen and, when it does, ten unnecessary regulations that currently gum up the system will be nuked.
We usually prefer the government to be hands-off wherever possible, laissez-faire, except in cases where the free market obviously cannot adequately self-regulate (antitrust, for just one example). Regulations are static and the marketplace is fluid, so extensive regulations can have unintended, unforeseen results down the road. – MacDailyNews, June 9, 2006
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