U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have softened his stance on Taiwan's chip dominance days after announcing TSMC’s historic U.S. investment alongside its chair and CEO C.C. Wei at the White House. While he repeated claims that Taiwan "stole" U.S. chip business, he blamed past presidents, not Taiwan, for America's decline in competitiveness.
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00:00A change in tone from U.S. President Donald Trump.
00:03Days after appearing with TSMC Chair and CEO Cece Way at the White House, Way was there
00:09to announce the Taiwanese chip giant's plan to invest an additional $100 billion U.S.
00:16in its operations in the U.S. state of Arizona.
00:20Before this announcement, Trump had repeatedly accused Taiwan of stealing America's chip
00:26business, a sentiment that Trump is now repeating once again, but with an important caveat
00:33that he does not blame Taiwan for its dominance.
00:36We gradually lost the chip business and now it's almost exclusively in Taiwan.
00:42They stole it from us.
00:43They took it from us and I don't blame them.
00:46I give them credit.
00:47I blame the people that were sitting in this seat because they allowed it to happen.
00:51Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump also gave a brief history of the U.S. tech giant
00:57Intel, once a dominant force in the industry, but now struggling for years to keep up with
01:02competitors like TSMC in Taiwan and Samsung and SK Hynix in South Korea.
01:09Back in Taiwan, TSMC's U.S. plans have split public opinion.
01:14Some worry Taiwan could lose the upper hand in the globally important industry and erode
01:19its silicon shield.
01:21The idea that TSMC's dominance can protect Taiwan from threats, including a Chinese invasion.
01:29Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, however, has backed the historic investment, saying it
01:33strengthens U.S. ties with Taiwan.
01:37Remember, this is all coming after weeks of anxiety for the chip sector after Trump threatened
01:42to impose tariffs on the critical tech, something TSMC could avoid by manufacturing in the U.S.
01:50But amid all these geopolitical forces, TSMC's Wei has clarified that the reason for its
01:56investment is first and foremost to meet soaring demand of its customers.
02:02Alex Chen and Joyce Zen in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.