- Former President Donald Trump said the U.S. "foolishly" lost semiconductor manufacturing leadership to Taiwan.
- Taiwan produces the vast majority of the world's most advanced chips, and TSMC holds a dominant share of global foundry capacity.
Trump made the remarks at a public event, arguing that the United States allowed critical semiconductor manufacturing to migrate abroad and that this creates strategic vulnerability. He said reliance on a single geographic region for cutting-edge chips poses risks to national security and supply chains.
The Biden administration has pushed the CHIPS Act and other incentives to rebuild domestic capacity, while companies including TSMC have announced investments in U.S. fabs. Industry experts say reshoring is possible but costly and time-consuming, and that a diversified global supply chain will remain important.
Critics of Trump's framing say the situation is the result of decades of investment patterns, market forces, and specialization rather than a single administration's decisions. Supporters of stronger domestic investment argue the U.S. must accelerate incentives and workforce development.
Correction: An earlier draft misstated a projected market figure. The market projection cited in this article has been updated for accuracy.