TSMC's Wei says U.S. will not ask for stake in company

Taipei, Aug. 23 (CNA) The United States government will not seek a stake in contract chipmaker TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.), the company's chairman and CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said Friday night.

"They (the Trump administration) have announced they will not take a stake (in TSMC)," Wei told reporters, confirming recent news reports that the U.S. government would not ask for shares in TSMC.

Echoing Wei, a TSMC spokesperson told CNA on Saturday that the company has never had discussions with the U.S. on the government holding a stake in TSMC.

On Wednesday, a Reuters report, citing unnamed sources, said the U.S. government wanted equity in chipmakers that receive funding under the CHIPS Act to build factories in the country, with TSMC being one of them.

A day later, the Wall Street Journal quoted a U.S. government official as saying there were no plans to request shares from CHIPS Act recipients that have or are increasing their investments in the United States.

The official said: "The Commerce Department is not looking to take equity from TSMC and Micron."

After the Reuters report surfaced, shares of TSMC lost 4.22 percent in Taipei as investors feared uncertainty created by the Trump government's reported ownership plan.

In response to the equity for aid report, Pegatron Corp. Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) cited former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's words: "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem," urging the U.S. government not to interfere in private companies' operations.

Currently, TSMC is investing US$65 billion to build three advanced wafer fabs in Arizona, with the first having started commercial production in late 2024.

In March, TSMC pledged to invest an additional US$100 billion in Arizona over the next few years to build three more fabs, two IC assembly plants and one research and development center.