Taiwan: We're Not Moving 40% Of Chip Production To US, Despite Trade Deal

Taiwan: We’re Not Moving 40% of Chip Production to US, Despite Trade Deal

Last updated: 2026/02/09 at 2:42 PM

News Room Published 9 February 2026

The Trump administration claims Taiwan will migrate 40% of its semiconductor supply chain to the US as part of a trade deal, but a Taiwanese official flatly rejects that as “not possible.”

“Is it to move 40 or 50% of production to the US? In reality, I clearly told the US side it’s not possible,” Taiwan Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun said during an interview with a local TV channel.

According to her, Taiwan’s chip and electronics ecosystem—which it built over decades—is simply too large to move to the US. “The first point we told the US side is that it’s impossible to allocate based on production capacity. [Taiwan] will only grow larger. But we can expand our US presence,” she added.

Cheng also noted that Taiwan accounts for 90% of the world’s most advanced chip production thanks to contract chip manufacturing giant TSMC, which counts Apple, AMD, and Nvidia as clients. It’s true TSMC has been making huge investments in the US, but the Taiwanese government has been working to block its most cutting-edge chip tech from migrating to the US and other markets as part of a national “silicon shield” policy designed to ward off a potential invasion from China, which has vowed to reclaim the island.

Cheng’s statements pour cold water on claims from US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who mentioned the 40% figure last month. The Commerce Department also described the US-Taiwan trade deal as “a massive reshoring of America’s semiconductor sector.”

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The department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Still, TSMC is preparing to invest $165 billion in six chip fabs in Arizona, which promise to boost chip manufacturing, especially for new AI data centers.