Taiwan says its companies plan to invest another $20 billion in US

Taiwanese companies are planning another $20 billion of investments ​in the U.S. driven by demand for ​AI applications, the island's economy minister said ‌on ​Wednesday without giving details, though drawing a warm response from a visiting U.S. official. The U.S., which is Chinese-claimed Taiwan's most important international ‌backer and arms supplier despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, has pushed Taiwanese technology companies to ramp up their investments as part of a U.S. effort to get more domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Speaking at the ‌opening of the U.S. pavilion at the SEMICON trade show in Taipei, Taiwan Economy Minister ‌Kung Ming-hsin said Taiwanese companies were "very actively" investing in the U.S. Since May, when Taiwan attended the SelectUSA Investment Summit, Kung said the ministry had conducted a new assessment of which companies, aside from major chipmaker TSMC, might want to further their ⁠investments in ​the country, and the result ⁠was an extra $20 billion.

AI and chip orders were "extremely lively", which is what is drawing this interest, Kung added, though ⁠he did not give details of which companies he was talking about. TSMC announced in July a further $100 ​billion investment in the U.S. state of Arizona, bringing the total planned investment to $265 billion.

Speaking at ⁠the same event as Kung, a U.S. Commerce Department official who oversees the government programme to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, called ⁠the ​CHIPS Act, welcomed the announcement. "It demonstrates our continued shared commitment to a secure, resilient and innovative semiconductor and electronics supply chain," said Bill Frauenhofer, executive director of semiconductor investment and innovation at ⁠the department.

"These projects will strengthen critical technology capabilities in the U.S. and advance innovations that will shape our ⁠collective future for ⁠decades to come." U.S. President Donald Trump has on occasion criticised Taiwan for "stealing" American semiconductor business, a perception Taiwan's government says is unfair even as it ‌has backed its ‌companies to increase their U.S. investments.