The criteria are alarming firms including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Ltd, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, a concern echoed by the world’s top contract chipmaker in Taiwan, TSMC.
the production of semiconductors has severe environmental effects, with the manufacturing process taking large amounts of energy and producing hazardous waste.
Efforts to better the sustainability of semiconductor manufacturing are ongoing, with measures like green manufacturing and recycling programs being devised to decrease the environmental influence of this vital technology.
The United States has dispatched officials to Taiwan to listen to concerns in the chip sector regarding the conditions for additional U.S. semiconductor subsidies, Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said on Friday.
The criteria are alarming firms including Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Ltd, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, a concern echoed by the world’s top contract chipmaker in Taiwan, TSMC.
Restrictions include sharing excess earnings with the U.S. government, and industry insiders have claimed the application process itself might disclose sensitive business strategies.
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Wang said there was a “clear relationship” between U.S. subsidy laws and firm investments and running expenses, but emphasized the rules were still in a 60-day comment period.
“The U.S. side has dispatched key officials to Taiwan to listen to the industry’s comments, to gather their views,” she continued, without revealing specifics.
“Following forward, if the industry requires the government to help communicate with the United States, the Economics Ministry will undoubtedly assist with communication,” Wang added.
“We hope these technical facts do not allow the industry to feel that there is a very substantial discrepancy with their cost projections.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is spending $40 billion on a new facility in the western U.S. state of Arizona, backing Washington’s aspirations for more chip-making at home.
Subsidies would come from a $52 billion pool of research and manufacturing money authorized under the United States’ so-called CHIPS Act, the law driving growing chip-making in the nation, for which the Commerce Department unveiled instructions and templates this month.
The U.S. Department of Commerce will preserve sensitive company information and believes that the necessity to share excess profit would only arise if projects greatly exceed predicted cash flow, a Department of Commerce official said on Thursday, citing its notice for the financing.
