The world's largest foundry semiconductor corporation Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is accelerating the import of semiconductor equipment into the United States. The Trump administration, which stated that tariffs on semiconductors and electronic products will be exempt from mutual tariffs, has signaled that it will announce tariff rates related to semiconductors within just a few days, projecting an acceleration of operations at its U.S. production facilities to minimize expense.
According to industry reports on the 14th, TSMC has requested semiconductor equipment companies to deliver semiconductor equipment used in advanced packaging and inspection this month. The Taiwan Economic Journal reported, "Trump's tariff policy is changing daily. Although it announced that mutual tariffs have been suspended, semiconductors will ultimately be subject to tariffs," adding that "TSMC's new factory construction project in the U.S. is expected to accelerate."
As the Trump administration's tariff policy changed overnight, confusion in the semiconductor industry has intensified. The U.S. government announced on Nov. 11 (local time) that "smartphones, semiconductors (including SSDs and equipment), etc., will be excluded from the 'mutual tariff' applied by the U.S. government." However, President Trump, when asked how high the semiconductor tariff rate will be on the 13th, said, "I will announce it next week," adding that "there may be flexibility for some corporations, but it's not certain." U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also noted, "Tariff models will be applied to encourage domestic production of semiconductors and pharmaceuticals."
Ultimately, as expanding domestic production capabilities is expected to be the safest choice to reduce tariff burdens, TSMC appears to be speeding up. TSMC's Arizona Plant No. 1 recently began mass production of 4 NANO products. Plant No. 2 is scheduled to begin operations in 2027, and Plant No. 3 in 2030. TSMC has so far made an investment of about $165 billion (approximately 239 trillion won).
The Economic Journal stated, "Although production capacity will still be significantly lower than in Taiwan, for U.S. customers, the pressure of rising costs due to tariffs can be somewhat alleviated," adding that "major clients such as Apple and Nvidia are requesting an increase in production ratios in the U.S., leading TSMC to accelerate the pace of building factories in the U.S."
TSMC is receiving high-priced advanced equipment from companies such as Netherlands-based ASML and Japan's Tokyo Electron, so tariffs are also expected to be imposed during the process of importing semiconductor equipment. The Trump administration initially announced that it would impose mutual tariffs of 20% on the European Union (EU) and 24% on Japan. In particular, ASML's high NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment, used for advanced processes below 2 NANO, is a super-expensive product, with a unit price reaching $350 million (approximately 500 billion won).
Foreign news agencies, including Reuters, reported that "if the existing mutual tariffs are applied, TSMC is expected to spend at least $600 million (approximately 856 billion won) on tariffs related to semiconductor equipment supplied from Europe and Japan."
There is an urgent call for comprehensive measures to minimize damage under U.S. tariff policies from companies like Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which are establishing production bases in the U.S. Samsung Electronics plans to launch an advanced foundry production base in Taylor, Texas, next year with an investment of $17 billion (approximately 23 trillion won). SK hynix is building a high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production base with an investment of $4 billion (approximately 5.77 trillion won), aiming for operations in 2028.
A semiconductor industry source noted, "As Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have production bases concentrated in China and Korea, it is difficult to avoid U.S. tariffs, and with expanding domestic production capacity being the only alternative, measures to reduce tariff burdens are necessary."