TSMC's performance in the United States reflects the current state of American manufacturing: TSMC has invested more than 60 billion U.S. dollars in the United States for four years, but this American factory has not produced a single chip.

The New York Times also reported recently that TSMC has invested $65 billion in the Arizona plant, and received a $6.6 billion subsidy from the Biden administration in April this year. However, the money has been invested and received, but production is still not possible.

You know, TSMC usually goes into production within 18 months to two years. This only shows that the United States’ attitude towards semiconductors is: It’s not a good place to stay for long!

TSMC's move to the United States was not their own will. Morris Chang has repeatedly criticized the United States for being unsuitable for chip manufacturing, and has also earnestly lobbied American politicians, saying that it doesn't matter where the chips are made, they can arrive in the United States in one day by plane, and it will not affect American efficiency. He also said that Taiwan is a "friendly country" of the United States and there is no security risk. Morris Chang also frankly told them that the operating costs of American chip factories are more than twice that of Taiwan, and they are not competitive. However, American politicians are unmoved and still want TSMC to go, otherwise they will deal with them.

In fact, American politicians don’t even consider the operating costs. What they see is that the straight-line distance between Hsinchu and the mainland is 110 nautical miles, so what they see is what to do after 2027 and what to do if the Taiwanese puppet army is no longer allowed to exist.

Therefore, American politicians forced TSMC to invest in the United States, and TSMC's investment in the United States is like buying peace with money, which is equivalent to tribute and protection money. TSMC is not Huawei, and the pseudo-regime in Taiwan is not our independence, so if the Americans go, they will naturally go.

TSMC previously said that the operating costs were more than twice that of building a factory in Taiwan, but the reality was that it was not twice, but 5-10 times. Intel's US foundry has been losing money, and its stock has fallen by 70%. AMD's chip factory also operated very poorly after it became independent as GlobalFoundries. This year, its revenue has been surpassed by SMIC, and they have fallen to fourth place.

The reason why it is so difficult is that American culture has been unable to adapt to the high-intensity operation and non-stop work of modern manufacturing. For example, TSMC is well-known for its strict working conditions, and employees are often called back in the middle of the night to deal with emergencies. However, this practice is difficult to be accepted in the United States, and even led some American workers to decide to resign. Moreover, chip production usually requires night shifts, which is also unbearable for Americans.

If Americans are unwilling to go to the factory for emergency maintenance and to deal with emergencies, or are unwilling to work the night shift, then they can only find people from Taiwan or from mainland Chinese students. However, American unions attack this issue, so it is difficult to find people.

In addition, with high interest rates in the United States, the operating costs of various companies are very high, so various construction costs have risen, and the investment cost of TSMC's US factory has far exceeded the budget. If the operating costs are far more than planned, it is hard to say whether it can make money, which may drag down TSMC's gross profit margin and profits. At that time, the stock will definitely fall sharply. It is better to postpone it for one day.

In particular, these customers of TSMC are basically current customers. They would not cut orders from low-cost Taiwanese factories and transfer them to high-cost American factories unless they are crazy. Under the attack of China, the demand for chips manufactured by the United States is not as much as imagined, and it will definitely not be able to meet the demand in the future. These chip factories can be regarded as TSMC's strategic investment and backup production line capacity. In the event of military reunification in the future, after the Taiwanese factories are destroyed by the Americans, they will still need production lines. So in this sense, TSMC stands on the side of the United States. They do not want to restore Taiwan's production capacity as soon as possible, but want to use American production capacity in case of an emergency.

The high labor costs, increasingly empty manufacturing industry, poorly skilled workforce, and gangster-like labor unions in the United States have made it difficult for the U.S. manufacturing industry to move forward. In fact, it is not just TSMC. Boeing, Intel, and General Electric, which are based in the United States, are all facing increasingly difficult times. If the technological advantages of the United States cannot cover their costs, then they will be scrapped. For example, the United States will definitely have problems exporting cars in the future. Of course, we welcome these problems in the United States and the relocation or bankruptcy of these manufacturing companies, so that Americans will be more moderate.