Insider sources from chip manufacturing companies have revealed that the government of United States is holding talks with chip making companies concerning the companies building manufacturing factories in the country.
William Moss, spokesman of Intel Corp (INTC) revealed the company was in discussion with United States Department of Defense, the two parties are discussing on how to improve domestic production of microelectronics, semiconductors and related technology.
“Intel is well positioned to work with the U.S. government to operate a U.S.-owned commercial foundry and supply a broad range of secure microelectronics” said Moss in an emailed statement.
On the other side spokeswoman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330) Nina Kao confirmed a similar story saying they have been engaging the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding erecting a factory in the U.S. Kao was quick to note that no final decision had been reached yet.
“We are actively evaluating all the suitable locations, including in the U.S but there is no concrete plan yet” said Kao.
It is alleged, during end of March CEO of Intel, Bob Swan, authored a letter to the Department of Defense in which he pointed out the company’s willingness to establish a foundry in the U.S. A foundry is a term used by chip-makers to mean a chip plant in partnership with Pentagon.
“This is more important than ever, given the uncertainty created by the current geopolitical environment…..We currently think it is in the best interest of the United States and of Intel to explore how Intel could operate a commercial U.S. foundry to supply a broad range of microelectronics,” read part of Swan’s letter.
Wall Street Journal published a report indicating that South Korea based and currently world’s largest chip maker Samsung Electronics Co (005930) is holding talks with various officials from U.S on how they can expand their chip making factory in in Austin, Texas.
Tension and Trade War
For the better part of last year, China and the United states were engaging in a very heated trade war resulting to imposing of tariffs from both sides. Breakout of coronavirus escalated matters further between the two largest economies in the world.
At the end of March, officials from different arms of the U.S government held meetings whereby they were looking on how to cut out chip supply from Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies.
The company has been repeatedly accused by the U.S of spying for Beijing using its technology infrastructure and services.
