Taiwan promises to increase US investment following the tariff threat from Donald Trump.

President Lai Ching-te has pledged to increase investment and procurement in the U.S. to help balance trade, following Trump’s plan for "reciprocal tariffs" on countries with large trade surpluses with the U.S. Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with Taiwan—its seventh-largest trading partner—expanded by $26.1 billion to $73.9 billion, driven largely by soaring demand for advanced AI chips produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker.

Lai reaffirmed Taiwan’s leadership in global semiconductor manufacturing and pushed back against Trump’s accusations that Taiwan had "stolen" the U.S. chip industry. He vowed to secure Taiwan’s critical role in global supply chains. He proposed a "Global Semiconductor Democratic Supply Chain Initiative", advocating a collaborative approach to supply chain resilience—in contrast to Trump’s protectionist strategy to relocate chip production to the U.S.

Under pressure from both the Trump and Biden administrations, as well as U.S. customers, TSMC has committed $65 billion to build three fabrication plants in Arizona, with the first already in mass production. However, even upon completion, these facilities will represent less than 20% of TSMC’s total manufacturing capacity, though they remain the company’s largest overseas investment to date.