Recently, US President Biden , accompanied by senior dignitaries and industry giants, visited the chip factory in Arizona, USA. He declared on the spot that "American manufacturing is back." TSMC's production plan will open a "new era" of American manufacturing and help the United States win the economic competition in the 21st century.
It is reported that the TSMC factory has started the second phase of construction and is expected to start producing 3-nanometer process chips in 2026. It is expected that the United States will be able to produce the world's most advanced chip processes in the near future.
It is worth noting that TSMC, as a Taiwanese company, has now built its most advanced chip factory in the United States. The intention behind it is actually very obvious. With the cooperation of the Democratic Progressive Party on the island, the United States is not only making huge profits from arms sales, but is also hollowing out Taiwan's most valuable semiconductor industry to help the development of the United States' own manufacturing industry. It is precisely because of this kind of "selling out Taiwan" that the people on the island finally saw clearly the DPP's true face of disregarding the interests of the island and seeking glory. In the previous "nine-in-one" election, the DPP suffered such a miserable defeat.
TSMC
However, the matter is now here. For China, apart from the level of TSMC, we should pay more attention to the macro strategy of the Biden administration. Specifically, in the past few months, Biden first introduced the " chip bill " and then the "inflation reduction bill." The purpose of these bills is very simple, that is, to help the U.S. manufacturing industry return to the top of the world, and from the current point of view, it has also achieved certain results. A large number of Western companies that cooperate closely with the United States have invested and built factories in the United States, bringing many high-quality jobs to the United States and are expected to bring a lot of political votes to Biden.
More importantly, this is also a positive challenge from the United States to the rise of China. In the past few years, the United States has used despicable means to contain China's rise. First, it launched a trade war against China and increased tariffs on Chinese goods; it promoted the strategic encirclement of China, the four-party security dialogue between the United States, Japan, India, and Australia, and the AUKUS alliance, the United Kingdom, and Australia, to win over ASEAN countries. The intentions of South Asian countries are obvious. However, these measures have not really curbed China's rise. The trade between China and the United States continues to hit new highs, and China still maintains close and friendly relations with most countries in the world. Based on this, when all kinds of dirty tricks are unable to defeat China, the United States has one and only one way to counter China's rise, which is to strengthen the high-tech blockade, revitalize the U.S. manufacturing industry, and suppress the rise of China's high-end manufacturing industry. Among them, high-end chip manufacturing is a "trump card" in the hands of the United States.
Biden attended the ceremony
I have to say that the Biden administration’s thinking is still very clear, but there are also reasons why the Biden administration did not do this at the beginning. On the one hand, the domestic situation in the United States is not suitable for the development of manufacturing. In the past few decades, the United States has relied on military and financial hegemony to easily harvest wealth around the world. It is a typical habit of making quick money. Now they have to learn from China and create wealth through honest production. The American people and American capital are obviously unwilling to accept it.
On the other hand, the current development of manufacturing in the United States is at the expense of the advanced manufacturing of its Western allies. Take EU as an example. After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine broke out, energy prices in the EU soared. At this time, the United States launched the "Inflation Reduction Act" to increase subsidy support for the new energy industry. The combination of the two factors directly led to a large number of EU companies fleeing Europe and moving to the United States. This situation has caused great dissatisfaction from the European Union. French President Macron's previous visit to the United States was to resolve this matter. However, judging from the current situation, the Biden administration still has no intention to change its policy, and the future economic and trade relations between the EU and the United States are likely to deteriorate sharply. It can also be seen that the rise of the U.S. manufacturing industry is still not easy.
China and the United States compete
It is obvious that in the context of the new round of global industrial revolution , major economies such as China, the United States, and the European Union have realized the major opportunities behind this. The United States is developing itself without failing to make any moves sucking the blood of its allies. This is both an opportunity and a challenge for China.
Although the oppression from the United States still exists, China's advantages are also very obvious. The perfect industrial sector, the huge consumer market, the prosperous foreign export trade, and the relative advantages occupied by the new energy industry are all China's basic foundation. Moreover, even in the field of semiconductor , China is concentrating resources from all parties to make breakthroughs. It has achieved initial results in the third-generation semiconductors. I believe that with the promotion of the whole country, breaking the technological blockade of Western countries is just around the corner. Moreover, Western countries are not monolithic. For example, Dutch clearly stated that it would not follow the United States. The ASML company that went to China has been working hard to supply lithography machine to China.
Finally, in general, Biden’s so-called United States has won economic competition in the 21st century, and it is still too early to say it. TSMC cannot revitalize the US manufacturing industry, but developing high-end manufacturing industry is destined to offend its close allies. The US's hegemony will face further weakening, and its ability to harvest global wealth in the future will also be reduced. Whether this choice is worth it is still a question mark.
