Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) shares fell 3.37% to close at $141.37 on Tuesday, extending losses in after-hours trading by another 1.89% to $138.70, as investors continued to react to President Donald Trump’s threat of imposing tariffs as high as 100% if the chipmaker did not build manufacturing plants in the U.S.
What Happened: Speaking at a National Republican Committee dinner Tuesday, Trump claimed his aggressive tariff strategy has already secured major U.S. investments without government subsidies.
“TSMC, the biggest, most powerful chip maker in the world… they’re spending $200 billion in Arizona building one of the biggest plants in the world, and that’s without money,” Trump said. “All I did is say if you don’t build your plant here, you’re going to pay a big tax — 25%, maybe 50%, maybe 75%, maybe 100%.”
“This is without that stupid CHIPS Act, where they say, ‘Here’s billions of dollars to a company that doesn’t need it.’ These chip companies are loaded. They give these companies billions of dollars to build a plant in the United States. They don’t build them in the United States. They keep the money. It looks good.” Trump said.
The semiconductor giant’s stock has been under pressure amid a broader tech selloff, with Taiwan’s tech-dominated Taiex index down 23.67% year-to-date.
Why It Matters: Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warned investors to remain cautious about semiconductor stocks given Trump’s tariff policies, noting that even Apple Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) substantial $500 billion U.S. investment failed to shield it from tariff considerations.
Despite Trump’s persistent criticism of the CHIPS Act, calling it a “horrible thing,” his administration recently established the United States Investment Accelerator within the Commerce Department to oversee the program, focusing on “negotiating much better CHIPS Act deals.”
TSMC, which supplies chips to major tech companies including Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD), has committed to significant manufacturing investments in Arizona.
These developments come as the company is reportedly finalizing a 20% stake in a joint venture with Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC), which posted an $18.8 billion net loss in 2024.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
