No need for one country to control chip industry: official

[Daniel Nenni]

There is no need for one country to control the semiconductor industry, which is complex and needs a division of labor, Taiwan’s top technology official said yesterday after US President Donald Trump criticized the nation’s chip dominance.Trump repeated claims on Thursday that Taiwan had taken the industry and he wanted it back in the US, saying he aimed to restore US chip manufacturing.National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) did not name Trump in a Facebook post, but referred to President William Lai’s (賴清德) comments on Friday that Taiwan would be a reliable partner in the democratic supply chain of the global semiconductor industry.

A semiconductor wafer is pictured at the TSMC Museum of Innovation in Hsinchu City in an undated photograph.
Photo: Bloomberg

Wu wrote that Taiwan has in the past few years often been asked how its semiconductor industry had become an internationally acclaimed benchmark.

“How did we achieve this? Obviously, we did not gain this for no reason from other countries,” he said, recounting how the government developed the sector from the 1970s, including helping found Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in 1987, now the world’s largest contract chipmaker.

“This shows that Taiwan has invested half a century of hard work to achieve today’s success, and it certainly wasn’t something taken easily from other countries,” Wu said.

Each country has its own specialty for chips, from Japan making chemicals and equipment to the US, which is “second to none” on the design and application of innovative systems, he said.

“The semiconductor industry is highly complex and requires precise specialization and division of labor. Given that each country has its own unique industrial strengths, there is no need for a single nation to fully control or monopolize all technologies globally,” he said.

Taiwan is willing to be used as a base to assist “friendly democratic countries” in playing their appropriate roles in the semiconductor supply chain, he added.

No need for one country to control chip industry: official - Taipei Times

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[Daniel Nenni]

I wish this nonsense would stop. Taiwan did not steal the semiconductor industry. The United States banned it because it was an environmentally unsound business. Semiconductor manufacturing back in the 1970s and 1980s was a dirty business. It poisoned the air, the ground, and water. The Environmental Protection Agency pushed dirty manufacturing businesses off shore and semiconductors was one of them.

When I first visited Hschinsu back in the early 1990s the Hotel Royal website showed a blue sky sunny day. When I got there it was cloudy brown with air that you could taste. It was quite a shock for a fresh air Californian. Personally, I am thankful Silicon Valley did not turn into Hschinsu.

This is based on my first hand experience and 40 years in the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley and around the world. I flew more than 1 million miles during my career and have visited dozens of fabs.

Here is what ChatGPT says:


ChatGPT:

You said:​

Did Taiwan steal the semiconductor industry from the United States?

ChatGPT said:​

No, Taiwan did not "steal" the semiconductor industry from the United States. Instead, Taiwan strategically developed its semiconductor sector through government policies, investments, and collaboration with global companies.

Key Factors Behind Taiwan’s Semiconductor Rise:​

1. U.S. Collaboration & Technology Transfers – The U.S. actively supported Taiwan’s semiconductor growth. In the 1980s, Taiwanese engineers trained in the U.S. brought back knowledge, and companies like Texas Instruments helped Taiwan develop foundry capabilities.
2. Government Support – Taiwan’s government, through organizations like the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), played a crucial role in fostering semiconductor innovation. TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) was founded in 1987 with backing from the government and Philips.
3. Foundry Model Innovation – TSMC pioneered the pure-play foundry model, which allowed fabless chip designers (like AMD, NVIDIA, and Apple) to manufacture chips without owning expensive fabs. This gave Taiwan a major competitive advantage.
4. Cost & Manufacturing Efficiency – Taiwan's lower costs, skilled workforce, and focus on process innovation made it a preferred location for semiconductor production, outcompeting U.S. fabs.
5. U.S. Industry Shift – While Taiwan was building its semiconductor dominance, many U.S. firms focused on design and outsourcing rather than maintaining manufacturing leadership.

Conclusion​

Taiwan did not "steal" the semiconductor industry; rather, it capitalized on opportunities, worked with global partners (including the U.S.), and made strategic investments that propelled it to leadership. Today, the U.S. is working to regain semiconductor manufacturing strength through initiatives like the CHIPS Act.

 

[TomNT]

I must say that during nearly 4-decades at IBM, mostly in R&D, but also working directly with manufacturing engineers and executives to introduce new microelectronics manufacturing technologies, I don't recall a single mention of environmental regulation as an obstacle to that business. I DO recall decades of steadily increasing sentiment among top IBM executives and pressure from external analysts that IBM should sell its Microelectronics Division and focus on more-profitable software products. I attributed a portion of that trend to the growing influence of Milton Friedman's Theory of the Social Responsibility of Corporations and also to the utter absence of political consensus regarding US industrial policy. When I talked to people in Congress or those who represented them in the their front offices, national industrial competitiveness and retention of US manufacturing jobs were subjects of limited interest, but I do I do not recall an instance where any of those politicians mentioned environmental concerns as a reason to offshore US industry. They just didn't have much interest in manufacturing.

 

[ChrisGar]

"I do not recall an instance where any of those politicians mentioned environmental concerns as a reason to offshore US industry."

I agree ... >40 years in the semi industry.