An attempt to steal trade secrets from the world¡¯s largest chipmaker and renewed tariff threats on semiconductors is bending Taiwan¡¯s "silicon shield.¡± But it¡¯s not breaking just yet.
Still, heavy is the head of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., whose technology everybody wants a piece of. Less than a day after news broke that TSMC fired several employees for a suspected attempt to obtain critical information on its cutting-edge manufacturing, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new chip tariffs "of approximately 100%.¡±
On Thursday, Taiwan confirmed that TSMC is exempt from the latest levies due to its investments in the U.S. But the president still sowed a lot of confusion after stating in a recent interview that Taiwan was "coming over and spending $300 billion in Arizona, building the biggest plant in the world.¡± TSMC had previously only committed $165 billion, suggesting negotiations might not be over.
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