Taiwan TSMC expansion may provide tariff relief for big tech

台積電（TSMC）擴建有機會為大型科技公司帶來關稅減免

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Trump administration plans to link exemptions from new semiconductor tariffs for tech companies to TSMC’s US investment, Financial Times reported Tuesday.

The US Commerce Department will tie tariff carve-outs for Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to TSMC’s NT$5.21 trillion (US$165 billion) investment in US semiconductor production, people familiar with the plan said.

Under the program, TSMC can allocate exemptions to its US customers based on the scale of its planned capacity. The plan would allow its US clients to import chips tariff-free, supporting the rapid deployment of AI data centers.

Officials said the plan remains under review and has not yet been signed by the president. One official said the government will monitor rollout to ensure the tariffs and rebates achieve their goal and are not exploited as “giveaways” to TSMC.

The program is tied to the US-Taiwan tariff deal, which cuts tariffs on Taiwanese imports to 15% from 20% in exchange for NT$7.89 trillion in US chip investment.

Companies building new US plants can import up to 2.5 times planned capacity tariff-free during construction. Existing facilities can import 1.5 times their capacity.

Only a narrow category of chips, mostly those re-exported to China, is subject to the 25% US tariff. Chips imported for domestic AI infrastructure, largely supplied by TSMC, are exempt.

The Commerce Department, White House, and TSMC declined to comment.