Trump close to deal for Taiwan to invest in U.S. chip plants and train American workers

Donald Trump’s administration is deep in negotiations on a new trade deal that would tie Taiwanese chip power directly to U.S. soil, with billions in investment and tech workers flown in to help build, run, and transfer skills to American workers.

The plan is designed to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign semiconductors and instead convert Taiwan’s exports into domestic factories, tech hubs, and trained labor. This development was reported by Reuters, citing five people allegedly familiar with the talks.

At the center of the deal is TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker. The company is expected to send both capital and technical workers to support its U.S. expansion and train American teams in semiconductor manufacturing and advanced technologies.

The White House is betting this setup will bridge the existing skills gap in U.S. chip fabrication. The deal is also being used as a bargaining chip by Taipei, which is pushing to reduce its current 20% tariff rate on U.S. exports.

Right now, chips are excluded from the tariff, since the U.S. can’t yet make enough of them on its own.

Taiwan sends capital, engineers to close skill gaps in U.S.

While South Korea and Japan have already pledged $350 billion and $550 billion in U.S. investments respectively, Taiwan’s commitment is expected to be smaller.

But instead of going big on dollar signs, Taiwan’s government is bringing its entire playbook: technical workers, factory experience, and a fully-developed science park blueprint.

Kush Desai, a spokesperson for the White House, told reporters, “Until announced by President Trump, reporting about potential trade deals is speculation.”

No one at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has responded to press inquiries about the deal. Trump himself hasn’t announced the agreement yet, but he’s already said publicly that he believes skilled workers from other countries are needed to teach Americans how to build and operate advanced factories.

TSMC CEO C.C.Wei said building its factory in Arizona has taken “at least twice as long” as it would have in Taiwan. He blamed the delays on the lack of skilled workers and gaps in the local supply chain.

Because of that, TSMC had to bring half of its construction crew from Texas to Arizona, pushing up relocation and housing costs. Wei’s concerns are one reason Taiwan agreed to include workforce training in the deal.

In a separate statement, Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said its team is still working with U.S. officials on cooperation across the supply chain using what it called the “Taiwan model.” That model includes full-stack chip production infrastructure clustered inside dedicated science parks.

The country’s Premier Cho Jung-tai confirmed Wednesday that the governments are already “exchanging documents” to nail down specific terms.

Cho said, “It is very difficult for other countries to do this kind of work, because only we have this concept, practice, and track record of service parks, which allows us to undertake this kind of initiative in the United States.”

Trump pressures Taiwan as chip tariffs hover at 100%

Trump turned up the heat in August, saying he would impose a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors unless companies agree to build inside the U.S. TSMC, which has already committed $165 billion toward Arizona factories, received a temporary exemption. Reuters reported this month that the U.S. might not follow through on the new tariff immediately, but the threat worked. Taipei came to the table.

Leading the charge from Taiwan’s side is Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun, who said she is hopeful that both sides will “reach a consensus” on expanded investment. But even as Taiwan answers Trump’s call for more U.S. manufacturing, it made one thing clear: the most advanced R&D and chip designs will stay in Taiwan.

At the APEC summit in South Korea, Lin Hsin-i, Taiwan’s representative, said he discussed semiconductors and supply chains with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Lin said Scott was interested in Taiwan’s experience with building full chip ecosystems.

Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn, also Nvidia’s biggest server maker, said the company was open to building science parks with the U.S. and other countries. Liu added he hoped this kind of cooperation would help move the trade negotiations forward.

Taiwan tries to grow U.S. chip hubs without giving away top tech

TSMC’s push into Arizona is already underway. It’s expanding its footprint as demand spikes for chips used in artificial intelligence systems.

At the same time, Taiwanese wafer maker GlobalWafers also announced new investment plans in the U.S. That said, Taiwan isn’t giving up its edge.

The country insists that its most advanced nodes and semiconductor breakthroughs will remain on home soil.

Still, not everyone’s happy. On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called Trump and said Taiwan’s “return to China” remains a major concern for Beijing.

The White House publicly refused to comment on that part of the call yesterday. But even without formal diplomatic ties, Washington remains Taiwan’s most important international backer. It’s the island’s biggest customer, biggest political partner, and its only real security guarantor.

In chip manufacturing, that support is about to get a lot more physical. Factories, parks, training programs; Taiwan’s chip muscle is being flown into the U.S., one engineer and blueprint at a time.

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