Excessive Hopes for Taiwan Are Tormenting Not Only Lithuanians: Taiwan Says It Is "Impossible" to Move Half of Its Chip Production Capacity to the US

 

 

Taiwan has deemed it "impossible" to move 40%–50% of its chip production to the U.S.

because it would dismantle their "Silicon Shield"—the strategic, high-concentration industry that guarantees global reliance and deters Chinese aggression. The move would fragment an irreplaceable, hyper-efficient ecosystem, causing severe economic damage, losing immense talent, and undermining Taiwan's security.

Key Reasons for the "Impossible" Label:

 

    Destruction of the "Silicon Shield": Taiwan’s 90% share of advanced chip manufacturing is a security guarantee. Reducing this makes the island less critical to global security, potentially inviting aggression.

    Ecosystem Disintegration: TSMC’s success relies on a tightly packed, efficient, and interconnected ecosystem of suppliers, engineers, and service providers in Taiwan that cannot be simply replicated in the U.S..

    Talent and Cost Challenges: Shifting such volume would require moving hundreds of thousands of specialized professionals and would risk losing Taiwan’s high-efficiency, long-hour work culture, which is seen as critical for maintaining leadership in chip technology.

    Economic Impact: A massive reduction in local production would deal a "heavy blow" to Taiwan's economy, losing high-tech talent and jobs.

    Operational Realities: High costs of U.S. expansion, coupled with potential underutilization of foreign fabs, make such a massive transfer financially and operationally unviable.

 

Instead, Taiwan emphasizes that it will keep its core operations "firmly rooted" at home while continuing to grow capacity locally, offering to help the U.S. build its own industry rather than transferring Taiwan’s.

 

“Taiwan’s top tariff negotiator said it would be “impossible” to move 40 percent of its semiconductor manufacturing capacity to the United States, responding to calls to relocate the island’s chip industry there.

 

Taiwan is a leader in the production of microchips, a key component of the global economy, but the White House wants more technology to be made in America.

 

Washington agreed last month to reduce tariffs on the island’s goods from 20 percent to 15 percent, while Taiwan agreed to increase its investment in the US.

 

Last month, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Washington wanted to move up to 40 percent of Taiwan’s chip supply chain and production to the US, warning that if that didn’t happen, tariffs could rise sharply.

 

And earlier, in September, he told U.S. media that Taiwan’s chip production should be shared “in half” with Washington.

 

But in an interview broadcast on Taiwan’s CTS television channel on Sunday night, Vice Premier and chief negotiator Cheng Li-chiun said she had made it clear to U.S. officials that Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem would not be relocated.

 

As for “moving 40 or 50 percent of manufacturing capacity to the United States… I have made it very clear to U.S. officials that this is not possible,” Cheng said.

 

She described Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem as an “iceberg” with “a huge underwater part,” adding that “the industrial ecosystem that has been built over decades cannot be relocated” and that “it will only continue to grow.”"