News TSMC Doesn't Want to Make Its Chips in the US

[Admin]

TSMC reportedly said it won't shift chip production to the U.S. despite pressure from the U.S. government.

TSMC Doesn't Want to Make Its Chips in the US : Read more

 

[koblongata]

Americans very expensive, not a wise plan.

 

[setx]

Why any non-U.S. company would want to shift their production to U.S.? This looks like a horrible idea from any point of view.

 

[hannibal]

Yeah. When most American companies moves production to other countries because USA is too expensive...
So company has to deside between: destroy the companys competativines by investing USA or fullfill the security demand of USA and invest in USA...
Most companies just say to USA cowernment that They should just make their own hardware by USA cowernment own factories and leave busines to do what busines do. USA is starting to sound more like communist country and that is worrying... we have enough of communist countries allready. IMHO. If USA wants to get more production to its soil, it should make the production in the USA cheaper than anywhere else. That is more in line what USA is for. Free country that supports economy and free enterprice. Not by forsing and intimidating companies...

 

[rhettlivingston]

In this case, TSMC's technology is considerably ahead of that of US companies. I would think that they have the same concerns about sending it to the US that we would have over sending our technology to China. Of course, technology security wouldn't be a concern for a much older node, but then those are the ones already built and building a new, unneeded line just to satisfy government security concerns seems like a huge ask.

 

[sykozis]

Yeah. When most American companies moves production to other countries because USA is too expensive...
So company has to deside between: destroy the companys competativines by investing USA or fullfill the security demand of USA and invest in USA...
Most companies just say to USA cowernment that They should just make their own hardware by USA cowernment own factories and leave busines to do what busines do. USA is starting to sound more like communist country and that is worrying... we have enough of communist countries allready. IMHO. If USA wants to get more production to its soil, it should make the production in the USA cheaper than anywhere else. That is more in line what USA is for. Free country that supports economy and free enterprice. Not by forsing and intimidating companies...

Part of the reason for the production cost difference is proximity to raw materials. The USA is at a huge disadvantage since most of the raw materials come from areas in or around China, Taiwan and India. The materials necessary for production would have to be shipped to the USA, increasing cost.

 

[pocketdrummer]

What we should be doing is funding US manufacturing altogether so we don't have to rely on Chinese companies to make our goods, regardless of the cost. Especially considering China's ongoing theft of intellectual property and cyber aggression, this would be a good move overall.

 

[bit_user]

Why any non-U.S. company would want to shift their production to U.S.? This looks like a horrible idea from any point of view.

I guess that's why lots of foreign car companies have plants in the US.

 

[bit_user]

What we should be doing is funding US manufacturing altogether so we don't have to rely on Chinese companies to make our goods, regardless of the cost. Especially considering China's ongoing theft of intellectual property and cyber aggression, this would be a good move overall.

If the US had government-provided healthcare, like most developed nations, that would certainly reduce the cost of labor and make it more competitive.

 

[sam101200]

The educational system in the US is a joke. TSMC would NEVER be able to find the engineers it needs to work the factories in the US.

 

[cryoburner]

I guess that's why lots of foreign car companies have plants in the US.

I think that's more a matter of the finished products being relatively expensive to ship into the North American market. Shipping a vehicle halfway around the world undoubtedly counters a lot of the savings gained from lower manufacturing costs, especially for countries that have relatively high manufacturing costs themselves. Something like a processor, on the other hand, shouldn't cost much to ship, so that doesn't really apply there.

And even so, the auto industry comes to mind as one place where expensive labor costs have actually made it harder for US car companies to compete. See what happened to Detroit, once the worldwide leader in automobile manufacturing. Even when the big US automakers were struggling to compete with the overseas market, you see the labor unions repeatedly going on strike, wanting more pay and benefits, while ignoring the fact that the workers are already being paid pretty well for what they do. Now, a lot of manufacturing has moved out of the region, and Detroit's population has dropped to less than half of what it had been several decades prior. And you still see the unions staging strikes. A recent 40-day strike brought GM's manufacturing to a standstill for weeks, and reportedly cost them around $3 billion.

 

[bit_user]

The educational system in the US is a joke. TSMC would NEVER be able to find the engineers it needs to work the factories in the US.

Then, how is it that Intel and IBM/Global Foundries have fabs in the US?

BTW, a lot of US graduates with advanced degrees aren't from the US, though many choose to stay and work there.

 

[bit_user]

I think that's more a matter of the finished products being relatively expensive to ship into the North American market. Shipping a vehicle halfway around the world undoubtedly counters a lot of the savings gained from lower manufacturing costs

BMW actually makes vehicles for export, in the US! There are probably other examples, but that's one I know for sure. In fact, I think some of those vehicles were even exported to China, surprisingly.

See what happened to Detroit, once the worldwide leader in automobile manufacturing. Even when the big US automakers were struggling to compete with the overseas market, you see the labor unions repeatedly going on strike, wanting more pay and benefits, while ignoring the fact that the workers are already being paid pretty well for what they do. Now, a lot of manufacturing has moved out of the region, and Detroit's population has dropped to less than half of what it had been several decades prior. And you still see the unions staging strikes.

A lot of US-based auto manufacturing simply moved to non-union states.

But, the other big thing that's happened is automation. It now takes far fewer workers to produce a car, so the labor costs don't quite matter as much as before. This is the main reason the US still even has any manufacturing sector.

 

[cryoburner]

BMW actually makes vehicles for export, in the US! There are probably other examples, but that's one I know for sure

I think that comes down to BMWs being somewhat more "luxury" cars, or at least the models built in the US fall into that category, so manufacturing costs are probably less relevant than for a model competing more aggressively on price. And again, I suspect the manufacturing costs would not be much better in Germany.