The retired founder of TSMC said on Thursday that even as he supported US efforts to slow China's advances in the semiconductor industry, the "bifurcation" of the global supply chain and the reversal of globalisation would increase prices and reduce the ubiquity of chips that power the modern world.
"There's no question in my mind that, in the chip
sector, globalisation is dead. Free trade is not quite that dead, but it's in
danger," Morris Chang said, speaking at an event hosted by Taiwan's
CommonWealth Magazine.
"When the costs go up, the pervasiveness of chips will
either stop or slow down considerably," said Chang, who at 91 remains an
influential voice in Taiwan's chip industry. "We are going to be in a
different game."
In Taiwan, TSMC Asia's most valuable listed company and a
major Apple supplier, is widely regarded as the "sacred mountain
protecting the country," because of its economic importance.
China has in recent years ramped up diplomatic and military
pressure against Taiwan, which Beijing views as its territory, raising concerns
about the fate of the chip fabs that dot Taiwan's western coast and produce the
majority of the world's most advanced chips if China blockades or attacks the
island.
US "onshoring" and "friendshoring"
efforts to boost chip manufacturing stateside or in allied countries present a
predicament for Taiwan.
"Friendshore does not include Taiwan. In fact, the
commerce secretary has said repeatedly that Taiwan is a very dangerous place,
we cannot - America cannot - rely on Taiwan for chips," Chang said.
"Now that, of course, is I think Taiwan's dilemma."
TSMC is expanding its global production footprint, even as
it keeps its most advanced technology in Taiwan.
Late last year, TSMC began construction of a second chip
factory in Arizona which will start production in 2026, using advanced 3 nm
technology. The company's total investment in the US project amounts to $40
billion.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government is plowing billions into
bolstering its chip sector, but Chang said China's chip manufacturing technology
lags that of Taiwan by "at least five or six years". © Reuters
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