TSMC Hires Lawyer to Look at US Restrictions on Huawei

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. hired outside counsel to “conduct legal analysis and ensure a comprehensive examination and interpretation” of new U.S. restrictions on Huawei (see 2005190030), a TSMC spokesperson emailed us Tuesday, declining to answer some of our questions about the companies' relationship. TSMC reportedly halted processing of all new orders by Huawei. Hours before the Commerce Department further stepped up controls on Huawei, TSMC announced plans to build its first U.S.-based chip factory. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and two other senior Senate Democrats pressed Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross and Defense Secretary Mark Esper Wednesday to tell them about U.S. government involvement in TSMC’s decision to build the U.S. chip factory, including if any “federal subsidies” were part of the negotiations. “We have serious questions as to how this project takes into consideration national security requirements and how it aligns with a broader strategy for building a diverse U.S. semiconductor manufacturing supply chain,” the Democratic senators wrote Esper and Ross. “We ask that you cease any such negotiations or discussions until you have briefed the relevant authorization and appropriations committees with your plans, including any commitments you have made to funding, tax breaks, licensures, or other incentives.” A “one-off investment like the proposed TSMC facility is inadequate to rebuilding U.S. manufacturing capacity in microelectronics, which is essential to our national and economic security,” the senators said. “Unfortunately, there is no evidence that the Administration has a comprehensive, integrated plan for achieving this.”