Investing.com-- TSMC (NYSE:TSM)- the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is confident that it will continue to receive U.S. government funding under incoming President Donald Trump, CFO Wendell Huang said in a CNBC interview on Sunday.
Huang said government funding was expected to continue trickling in gradually under Trump, as its U.S. plant began meeting construction and production milestones. Huang said the company had received $1.5 billion so far of the $6.6 billion promised by the Biden administration, as part of the CHIPS and Science Act.
TSMC’s first fabrication plant in Arizona began producing advanced chips in the fourth quarter of 2024, Huang told CNBC, and that the construction of the second Arizona plant will be completed by 2028.
TSMC received funding under the CHIPS act for its Arizona plants, as the Biden administration sought to move chip production back into the U.S., especially in the face of progress in artificial intelligence and concerns over China’s chipmaking abilities.
The CHIPS Act received bipartisan support and was signed into law in 2022, with the act committing over $50 billion to support the domestic chip industry.
Trump- who will take office on Monday, had criticized the CHIPS Act for its high price tag. Trump had also accused Taiwan of stealing the U.S.’ chip industry, and had threatened to pull some defense funding for the country.
Still, Trump is expected to leave the act unchanged, given the bipartisan support for the act.
TSMC is the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, and is a key component of the global chip supply chain, given that it manufactures advanced chips for industry stalwarts such as NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Its role has become even more prominent amid increasing AI development- which has greatly boosted demand for chips. TSMC clocked a record fourth-quarter profit last week.
Other chipmakers such as Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) also received funding under the CHIPS act.