Taiwan - US Relations
“I know the people very well, respect them greatly. They did take about 100 percent of our chip business,” Trump told Bloomberg on 25 June 2024 in an interview that was published on 18 July 2024. “I think Taiwan should pay us for defense,” Trump added, signaling he wants a more transactional approach to shielding the island. “You know, we’re no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn’t give us anything.” Trump’s running mate, J.D. Vance, repeatedly stated that the US would do its best to bolster interactions with Taiwan across all sectors. Donald Trump's comments that Taiwan hollowed out the American semiconductor industry are incorrect. But his remarks sent US-listed shares of Taiwan’s TSMC – the world’s largest contract chip maker – down 6 percent.
Wall Street’s semiconductor index lost over $480bn in stock market value on 17 July 2024 and headed for its worst session since 2022 after a report said Washington was mulling tighter curbs on exports of advanced semiconductor technology to China. Remarks from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump saying key production hub Taiwan should pay the United States for its defence deepened selling in chip stocks. AI heavyweight Nvidia fell almost 7 percent, losing more than $200bn in market capitalisation.
There are opinions that the "protection fee" refers to taxes on TSMC or Taiwanese products. Minister of Economic Affairs Kuo Chi-hui stated in an inquiry at the Legislative Yuan yesterday (6th) that Taiwan’s chip supply chain is strong, while the United States is strong in supply chain design, and the economies of Taiwan and the United States are complementary; Liu Jingqing, chairman of the National Development Council, who attended the same inquiry They believe that the term "protection fees" should be election language, because "charging protection fees for TSMC" will push up product prices in the U.S. technology industry, which will in turn impact their own public opinion. However, if Trump imposes tariffs and increases the ban on Chinese technology , Taiwanese manufacturers will actually benefit.
During Trump’s first term (2017-2021), the U.S.-China trade war set off, drawing the world’s attention to China’s long-standing unfair trade; arms sales to Taiwan increased significantly and became normalized; at that time, the U.S. Congress also passed many Taiwan friendship bills, which became Taiwan’s The basis for high-level visits and military exchanges between the United States.
Trump's attitude is obviously different from that of Biden, who has repeatedly expressed his willingness to send troops to help defend Taiwan. Scholars analyze that the Trump 2.0 era will return to the traditional "strategic ambiguity" stance.
Li Dazhong, director of the Institute of International Affairs and Strategy at Tamkang University, analyzed, "This ambiguity is in line with the long-term practice of the United States, and most of the time it will serve the interests of the United States, because it will keep Beijing guessing, but it does not mean that he will definitely He will abandon Taiwan, but I think he will not be as clear-cut as he has been in recent years in some of his actions. So for Taiwan, I think we need to find ways to establish a smoother relationship with Trump officials, especially the national security team. communication channels.”
President Lai Ching-te said, "In the future, the government will continue to work hard to strengthen Taiwan's democratic defense capabilities, and will also deepen partnerships with other countries to jointly consolidate the resilience of global democracy. I also want to emphasize that defending democracy requires gathering every ounce of strength."
Donald Trump said Taiwan should pay the US for protection from China. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek on 16 July 2024, Trump was asked if he would defend Taiwan against China if he wins the US election. Trump said Taiwan should be paying the US to defend it, that the US was “no different than an insurance company” and that Taiwan “doesn’t give us anything”. Trump noted China’s increased military aggression towards Taiwan, said he, “wouldn’t feel too secure if I was [Taiwan]”, and questioned why the US was acting as Taiwan’s “insurance” when, he claimed, they had taken American chip business. Without evidence, Trump repeated accusations that Taiwan had taken “almost 100%” of the US’s semiconductor industry. In response to Trump’s comments, premier Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and the US have good relations despite the lack of formal ties, but added that Taiwan was increasing its capabilities to defend itself.
JD Vance, told Fox News the US should be focused on China as its greatest security threat. “You have to ask yourself, is China going to be more dissuaded by us thumping our chests and acting tough in Europe, or are they going to be more dissuaded by us having the weapons necessary to prevent them from invading Taiwan?” Vance said. When asked, "If China invades Taiwan, will it promise to defend Taiwan?" Trump was unwilling to express his position. He only emphasized that he and Xi Jinping have a very good relationship and will continue to do so. He hopes that Beijing will not invade Taiwan during his term of office.
Trump, the 47th President-elect of the United States, accepted an exclusive interview with NBC News for more than an hour before he was officially sworn in on January 20, 2025. When the host asked, "What if China invades Taiwan?" "Whether he will commit to defending Taiwan", Trump refused to take a position. NBC host Welker asked, "If China invades Taiwan during your term, will you promise to defend Taiwan? And have you conveyed a message to him not to invade Taiwan?"
U.S. President-elect Trump responded, "I would never say that, I would never take a position because I have to negotiate, right? I have a very good relationship with President Xi and we are communicating with each other all the time. We didn't talk about, But we talked about other things, but I have a very good relationship with Xi Jinping and I hope he won’t do this.”
Since Trump criticized Taiwan's defense spending as insufficient and believed that it should be increased to 10% of Taiwan's GDP, KMT legislators including Wang Hongwei, Luo Zhiqiang, Xu Qiaoxin, etc. all believe that this is what Trump called "protection money." If the special budget is included, Taiwan's defense budget this year (2024) will be NT$606.8 billion, accounting for 2.38% of GDP; as for the total budget for next year (2025), which is blocked by the Blue and White alliance, it will reach NT$647 billion, accounting for 2.45% of GDP.
Strategy scholar Jie Zhong was relatively optimistic. He believes that the Trump administration may not directly cancel the FMF and PDA, but it may delay or reduce the scale, or at least "tie conditions", such as requiring Taiwan to significantly increase defense spending or increase trade restrictions. The deficit meets the requirements of the United States. Jie Zhong also believed that Trump is more likely to agree to sell military aircraft, ships and other carrier platforms because the price of these equipment is high and it can also provide more job opportunities.
Marco Rubio, who was nominated by US President-elect Trump as Secretary of State, went to the US Senate confirmation hearing 16 January 2025, emphasizing that he will continue to support Taiwan’s anti-China stance in the future. Rubio continued his supportive stance in Congress during the hearing, expressing his strong support for the Porcupine Strategy. The United States hopes to convince China that although Beijing may ultimately win the invasion of Taiwan, the price will be much higher than what it may gain. "I think this is critical to defending Taiwan and preventing catastrophic military intervention in the Indo-Pacific region." He also pointed out that regardless of Beijing's position on the "one-China principle", "we must find every possible opportunity to allow Taiwan to participate in international forums where important issues are discussed but where it is not represented." He also emphasized that "we oppose any coercion, Acts that intimidate or force Taiwan to comply with China's wishes." He said that this was Trump’s position in his first term and is expected to be continued in his second term.
In the Chinese Civil War, the United States aided the Nationalists with massive economic loans but no military support. On December 19, 1949, the US Embassy was moved to Taipei, Formosa (Taiwan), after the government of the Republic of China had moved there in response to advances by Chinese Communist forces on the mainland during the Chinese Civil War.
NSC 48/2 elaborates that “while Formosa [Taiwan] is strategically important to the United States, the strategic importance of Formosa does not justify overt military action…the United States should make every effort to strengthen the over-all U.S. position with respect to the Philippines, the Ryukyus, and Japan.”
On January 12, 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson delivered a speech at the National Press Club summarizing the shift in American foreign policy. Acheson’s speech reinforced President Truman’s statement a week earlier and his own address to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the United States was taking a hands-off approach toward Taiwan. American assistance was only effective when combined with a government that was supported by the people and had the potential to succeed. Acheson argued that, “it [American assistance] cannot furnish determination, it cannot furnish the will, and it cannot furnish the loyalty of a people to its government.”
The debate which took place in the United States as a result of the removal of Chiang-Kai-shek to the island of Formosa centered on Republican charges that the Democrats "lost" China. "Without question, the critics had by early 1949 convinced many Americans that Truman was, shockingly, abandoning China, China being equivalent with Chiang's dying order," journalist Robert Donovan wrote in his two-volume history of Truman's presidency. US policy toward China during President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration remained essentially what it had been during the Kennedy and Eisenhower administrations -- non-recognition of the Peopleâs Republic of China (PRC), support for Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government and its possession of China's seat in the United Nations, and a ban on trade and travel to the PRC.
President Nixon visited the People’s Republic of China in 1972 and agreed to the joint "Shanghai Communiqué" of February 27, 1972, in which both countries pledged to work toward the full normalization of diplomatic relations. As part of the effort toward normalization, on May 1, 1973, the United States opened the US Liaison Office in Beijing to handle all matters in the US-PRC relationship “except the strictly formal diplomatic aspects of the relationship.” The People’s Republic of China created a counterpart PRC office in Washington, DC in the same year.
When Jimmy Carter took office in January 1977, a significant improvement in relations between China and the United States was far from inevitable. In the aftermath of Nixon and Kissinger’s frustrated attempt to seek normalization during Nixon’s abbreviated second administration, the currents of American politics appeared less favorable to such a policy. Among Republicans, the increasingly powerful conservative wing, led by such figures as Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater, rejected the notion that the United States should abandon the alliance with Taiwan for the sake of improved relations with a Communist country. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, concerned about the security of Taiwan and the credibility of American commitments, were more skeptical of Sino-American normalization than was the civilian leadership at DoD. In 1977, the United States informed Taiwan’s government that although it was beginning a process that might lead to normalization of relations with the People’s Republic of China, it would not agree to terms that would undermine Taiwan’s security and well-being.
On January 1, 1979, the United States changed its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. In the US-PRC Joint Communique that announced the change, the United States recognized the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and acknowledged the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. The Joint Communique also stated that within this context the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people on Taiwan. The US embassy in Taipei was closed on February 28, 1979.
Following de-recognition, the United States terminated its Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan. However, the United States has continued the sale of appropriate defensive military equipment to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, which provides for such sales and which declares that peace and stability in the area are in US interests. Sales of defensive military equipment are also consistent with the 1982 US-PRC Joint Communique.
On April 10, 1979, President Carter signed into law the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which created domestic legal authority for the conduct of unofficial relations with Taiwan. US commercial, cultural, and other interaction with the people on Taiwan is facilitated through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation. The Institute has its headquarters in the Washington, DC area and has offices in Taipei and Kaohsiung. It is authorized to issue visas, accept passport applications, and provide assistance to US citizens in Taiwan. A counterpart organization, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO), has been established by the Taiwan authorities. It has its headquarters in Taipei, the representative branch office in Washington, DC, and 12 other Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices (TECO) in the continental US and Guam. The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) continues to provide the legal basis for the unofficial relationship between the US and Taiwan, and enshrines the US commitment to assisting Taiwan maintain its defensive capability.
The United States position on Taiwan is reflected in the Three Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), the later stating that:
It is the policy of the United States--
In the August 17, 1982 joint communique, the US stated that ""it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and that it intends to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to final resolution."
The US insists on the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences and encourages dialogue to help advance such an outcome. The US does not support Taiwan independence. President George W. Bush stated on December 9, 2003 that the United States is opposed to any attempt by either side to unilaterally alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. While the United States welcomed exchanges that enhance channels of communication between leaders in Beijing and Taipei, the United States urged Beijing and Taipei to further advance cross-Strait cooperation and dialogue, including direct discussions between the authorities in Beijing and elected leaders in Taipei.
US commercial ties with Taiwan have been maintained and have expanded since 1979. Taiwan continues to enjoy Export-Import Bank financing, Overseas Private Investment Corporation guarantees, normal trade relations (NTR) status, and ready access to US markets. In recent years, AIT commercial dealings with Taiwan have focused on expanding market access for American goods and services. AIT has been engaged in a series of trade discussions, which have focused on protection of intellectual property rights and market access for US goods and services.
Maintaining diplomatic relations with the PRC has been recognized to be in the long-term interest of the United States by seven consecutive administrations; however, maintaining strong, unofficial relations with Taiwan also a major US goal, in line with our desire to further peace and stability in Asia. In keeping with our one-China policy, the US does not support Taiwan independence, but it does support Taiwan's membership in appropriate international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, and the Asian Development Bank, where statehood is not a requirement for membership. In addition, the US supports Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations where its membership is not possible.
Diplomatically isolated Taiwan looked forward to more military cooperation and high-level visits from the United States under Donald Trump after he took office as U.S. president, though both sides were likely to proceed carefully to avoid a backlash from China. Trump had said in that he was open to renegotiating U.S. policy that forbids seeing self-ruled Taiwan as its own country. Trump would build a strong informal relationship with Taiwan in place since the 1970s, especially if helpful to business. A boost in informal ties would probably bring arms sales, military exchanges and a boost in senior-level visitors to Taiwan.
Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act on 16 March 2018 that encourages U.S. officials to travel to Taiwan to meet their counterparts and vice versa, a move that has angered China. Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that the self-ruled island’s government would “continue to uphold the principles of mutual trust and mutual benefit to maintain close contact and communication with the U.S.” US and Taiwan officials already travel back and forth between the two countries, but the visits are usually kept low profile to avoid offending China. China said the Taiwan Travel Act violated U.S. commitments not to restore direct official contacts with Taiwan that were severed when Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. The Taiwan Travel Act was passed to provide the legal basis for high-level officials to visit Taiwan. The Act is helpful to deepen the relations between the two countries, and can encourage like-minded countries in the region to work together to promote regional peace, prosperity, and stability.
In December 2018, President Trump signed the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act (ARIA) of 2018, which incorporates Taiwan in the security umbrella of the Indo-Pacific region, and reiterated US security commitment and support to military sales to Taiwan. US DoD’s Indo-Pacific Strategy Report in 2019 stressed that the US is pursuing a strong partnership with Taiwan, ensure that Taiwan remains secure, confident, free from coercion, and will faithfully implement the Taiwan Relations Act.
There has been a change in the way the deals are being approved. In recent decades, U.S. administrations had waited until accumulated requests from Taiwan could be bundled into a single package. The rationale was to reduce the number of times the U.S. government would have to respond to Chinese objections. But in what appears to be a sign of strengthening U.S.-Taiwan relations, individual sales are now being approved on a case-by-case basis. There is a a routinization of weapons procurement. It is a normalization of the process, treating Taiwan the same as anyone else.
US health secretary Alex Azar and Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's meeting on 10 August 2020 carried more symbolic weight than actual substance, Chinese analysts commented. In a response to the meeting which broke the diplomatic bottom line of China-US relations, People's Liberation Army Air Force reportedly deployed warplanes including J-11 fighter jets in a flight operation across the "middle line" of the Taiwan Straits. During Azar's meeting with Tsai, he praised the Taiwan island's success on health in combating COVID-19, and cooperating with the US to respond to health threats. He also conveyed a message of strong support and friendship from US President Donald Trump to the island. Tsai told Azar his visit was "a huge step forward in anti-pandemic collaborations," and she expects the two sides to make progress together, including on vaccine and drug research and production.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian denounced Azar's visit to Taiwan. He said the United States should not have any illusion about matters pertaining to China's core interests. He said "those who play with fire will get burnt."
The United States is ending restrictions governing official contacts with Taiwan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said 09 Janaury 2021, a move hailed by Taipei as ending "decades of discrimination". Pompeo said the "complex internal restrictions" on contacts with Taipei by diplomats, service members and others had been imposed "in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing." Pompeo added, "No more." Taiwan's government welcomed the move. The declaration may be more symbolic than substantive in effect, but it nonetheless appears certain to anger China. "China strongly urges the United States to stop its crazy provocation, stop creating new difficulties for China-US relations... and stop going further on the wrong path," the Chinese mission to the UN said.
The US State Department issued new guidelines for government interactions with officials from Taiwan to "encourage" bilateral engagement. Details of the rules had not been released. But the framework announced 09 April 2021 allowed US officials to hold meetings with their Taiwanese counterparts in federal buildings. The move showed President Joe Biden was continuing the general policies of his predecessor. The US under Trump enacted legislation to promote government contacts with Taiwan. Taiwan's foreign ministry welcomed the new rules, saying the US has demonstrated through action its unwavering commitment to Taiwan. The ministry said the rules will significantly increase engagement between the two sides, and open a new chapter in their relations. It added the US explained its move to Taiwan before the announcement.
A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry urged the United States "not to play with fire on the Taiwan issue, and immediately stop any increase in official contacts with Taiwan" on 13 April 2020. Zhao Lijian told reporters that the US must "not send the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces so as not to subversively influence and damage Sino-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait." China's Foreign Ministry said the government had the absolute determination to protect the country's sovereignty. "Don't stand on the opposite side of 1.4 billion Chinese people," it added.
President Biden said on four separate occasions that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense in the event of a Chinese attack, though his aides stressed afterward that the remarks occurred within the context of existing U.S. policy toward Taiwan. The Biden Administration’s 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy explicitly stated that “the United States will defend our interests, deter military aggression against our own country and our allies and partners—including across the Taiwan Strait—and promote regional security by developing new capabilities, concepts of operation, military activities, defense industrial initiatives, and a more resilient force.”
The Biden Administration privately withdrew, redirected, or denied several of Taiwan’s requests for weapons systems it does not deem sufficiently current or “asymmetric,” * which the U.S. Department of State has defined as “capabilities that are credible, resilient, mobile, distributed, and cost-effective.” Such “symmetric” weapons are those that are similar to the enemy’s weapons and attempt to outmatch and overpower them. By contrast, “asymmetric” weapons engage the enemy in ways that maximize one’s own advantages while minimizing the advantages conferred by the enemy’s superior size or technology. For example, when fighting an enemy tank, a symmetric weapons system is a tank, while an asymmetric system is an antitank weapon, such as the Javelin man-portable anti-armor weapons system.
Though the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, there was a robust unofficial relationship. The United States and Taiwan share similar values, deep commercial and economic links, and strong people-to-people ties, which form the bedrock of friendship and serve as the impetus for expanding U.S. engagement with Taiwan. Taiwan maintains the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) in Washington, DC. Through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a non-governmental organization mandated by the Taiwan Relations Act to carry out the United States’ unofficial relations with Taiwan, cooperation with Taiwan continued to expand. Taiwan has become an important U.S. partner in trade and investment, health, semiconductor and other critical supply chains, investment screening, science and technology, education, and advancing democratic values.
The United States approach to Taiwan remained consistent across decades and administrations. The United States has a longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States makes available defense articles and services as necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability -– and maintains our capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of Taiwan.
In May 2022, a joint statement issued after the summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reiterated “the importance of preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as an essential element in security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.” On the sidelines of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in June, Japanese and Australian defense ministers joined Defense Secretary Austin in a similar statement underscoring their mutual concern for stability in the Taiwan Strait.
On 23 May 2022 President Joe Biden said the United States would be willing to intervene to defend Taiwan if China were to invade, the latest Biden comment casting doubt on the longstanding U.S. policy of "strategic ambiguity" on the matter. At a news conference in Tokyo, Biden was asked whether the United States was willing to "get involved militarily to defend Taiwan," considering Washington was reluctant to do so following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Yes. That's the commitment we made," said Biden, without elaborating on what a hypothetical U.S. defense of Taiwan would entail. It was Biden's latest apparent move away from the approach of "strategic ambiguity" that U.S. presidents have long embraced when talking about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) issued the following statement 23 May 2022 regarding President Biden’s recent comments about Taiwan: “I’ve long said that we should change our Taiwan policy from ‘strategic ambiguity’ to ‘strategic clarity’: the United States will come to the defense of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. As usual, strategic clarity and military strength is the best way to deter China. Given President Biden’s apparent policy shift in off-the-cuff remarks at a press conference in Japan, followed by anonymous White House aides trying to ‘walk back’ his statement, it’s now essential that President Biden restate our new policy of strategic clarity in clear, deliberate remarks from a prepared text. Otherwise, the continued ambiguity and uncertainty will likely provoke the Chinese communists without deterring them—the worst of both worlds.”
Speaker Pelosi and a delegation of five Members of the House of Representatives visited Taiwan on August 2–3, 2022. The day after Speaker Pelosi departed Taiwan, the PLA began a series of live-fire exercises that some observers described as unprecedented in scale and proximity to the island. Scores of Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels crossed the median line, long an informal buffer between the Chinese and Taiwan militaries, while Eastern Theater Command forces conducted a variety of firepower strike and combat drills that could facilitate a blockade or invasion in six zones encircling the island. The PLA’s test-firing of missiles into Taiwan’s eastern waters, some of which reportedly overflew the island and five of which landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, shattered convention and appeared intended to intimidate the people of Taiwan and U.S. allies that might oppose a Chinese military operation against Taiwan. The United States and its Group of 7 allies both released statements condemning China’s military response as extreme, disproportionate, and needlessly escalatory.
Up to 200 soldiers will reportedly head to the island to train its military against a hypothetical “Chinese invasion”. Washington is planning to send between 100 and 200 troops to Taiwan “in the coming months,” the Wall Street Journal reported on 23 February 2023, citing anonymous officials. The personnel will be tasked with training the Taiwanese military against what was described as a “rising threat from China.” The deployment will more than quadruple the US military presence on the island, according to the Journal. According to the Pentagon’s Defense Manpower Data Center, there were 23 American soldiers in Taiwan as of autumn 2022. These Americans have been acting as advisers and trainers for the US weapons and equipment sent to Taipei. The new troops will also train the Taiwanese in tactics “to protect against a potential Chinese offensive,” according to unnamed US officials.
On 15 November 2024 the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce awarded TSMC Arizona Corporation (TSMC Arizona), a subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), up to $6.6 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. The award comes after the previously signed preliminary memorandum of terms, announced on April 8, 2024, and the completion of the Department’s due diligence. The award will support the company’s planned investment of more than $65 billion in three greenfield leading-edge fabs in Phoenix, Arizona. The Department will disburse the funds based on TSMC Arizona’s completion of project milestones.
President Joe Biden said “Today’s final agreement with TSMC – the world’s leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductors – will spur $65 billion dollars of private investment to build three state-of-the-art facilities in Arizona and create tens of thousands of jobs by the end of the decade. This is the largest foreign direct investment in a greenfield project in the history of the United States. The first of TSMC’s three facilities is on track to fully open early next year, which means that for the first time in decades an America manufacturing plant will be producing the leading-edge chips used in our most advanced technologies – from our smartphones, to autonomous vehicles, to the data centers powering artificial intelligence. Today’s announcement is among the most critical milestones yet in the implementation of the bipartisan CHIPS & Science Act, and demonstrates how we are ensuring that the progress made to date will continue to unfold in the coming years, benefitting communities all across the country.”
CHIPS for America had awarded approximately $6.72 billion and allocated over $36 billion in proposed funding across 20 states and proposed to invest billions more in research and innovation, which is expected to create over 125,000 jobs.
Looking back at Trump's first term, there were 11 arms sales to Taiwan in four years, with a total amount of NT$670 billion, nearly three times the Biden administration's arms sales of NT$240 billion. However, during the Biden administration, congressional legislation empowered the executive agency to adopt foreign military financing (FMF, up to US$2 billion per year from 2023 to 2027, approximately NT$64.5 billion), and presidential appropriation authority (PDA) to provide existing equipment or services to the US military, annually. (up to US$1 billion, approximately NT$32.3 billion) and other additional military aid options. In the past two years, military aid to Taiwan amounted to nearly NT$30 billion.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
