TSMC is the biggest semiconductor manufacturer in the world with 70% foundry market share. Its chip fabs are mostly based in Taiwan, but it does also have one fab in Japan, two in China and, more pertinently to this story, two in the USA: one 8-inch fab in Washington, and one 12-inch fab in Arizona. However, neither of these lattermost fabs are TSMC's very best, nor will they ever be.
TSMC is accelerating its plans for 1.4 nm silicon manufacturing, with the hopes of going into full production in 2027. However, according to the Central News Agency, that bleeding-edge tech won't be coming to TSMC's stateside fabs any time soon due to Taiwan's ‘National Core Technologies’ regulations (via Dan Nystedt on X). As per these regulations, TSMC can only transfer production tech that is at least two generations old to its fabs outside of Taiwan.
