Mark Liu says chipmaker is negotiating subsidies with German authorities because it considers first facility in Europe.
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC is feeling “good” about talks over a attainable first European manufacturing unit in Germany and is discussing subsidies with the host nation’s authorities, the corporate’s chairman has stated.
TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm, is the world’s largest contract chipmaker and has been in talks with the German state of Saxony since 2021 about constructing a fabrication plant, or a fab, in Dresden.
The European Union has accepted the EU Chips Act, a 43 billion euro ($46.07bn) subsidy plan to double its chipmaking capability by 2030 in an try to meet up with Asia and the US.
Talking on the firm’s annual shareholders assembly, TSMC’s Chairman Mark Liu stated on Tuesday the corporate had already despatched executives to Germany a couple of instances for talks on the attainable new plant.
“To date the sensation is nice,” he stated, including there have been some “gaps” within the provide chain and labour in Germany however these have been being addressed.
“We’re nonetheless negotiating with Germany on subsidies, how a lot the subsidies will likely be, that there gained’t be circumstances for the help. Germany is discussing this intimately,” Liu stated.
The corporate doesn’t count on to determine whether or not to proceed earlier than August on the earliest, a TSMC govt stated final month.
TSMC can be investing $40bn in a new plant within the western US state of Arizona, supporting Washington’s plans for extra chipmaking at dwelling, however has expressed considerations concerning the standards for US semiconductor subsidies.
South Korean chipmakers have additionally raised considerations over the circumstances, which embrace sharing extra earnings with the US authorities. Trade sources have stated the applying course of itself might expose confidential company technique.
Liu stated the US Division of Commerce (DOC) had an “open” perspective in the direction of the subsidy circumstances, including that TSMC had final month submitted a “pre-application” and it will proceed to have “optimistic communication” with the US.
The DOC has stated it is going to shield confidential enterprise data, including that the requirement to share extra earnings would solely happen when tasks considerably exceeded projected money circulation.
