"You need to give intel a bunch of money to stop them going out of business! Or we won't buy your chips" - US

"You mean bail out our only competition, which when it closes means you can basically only buy from us? " - TSMC

Everyone in this regime behaves like one of Tim Robinson's characters in I Think You Should Leave

Fucking jeniuses

I would think TSMC is in the drivers seat here. They could say "not interested in intel, thanks anyway. Tariff away if you want, but we are the only ones that can make the chips you want so you'll pay for it anyway".

TSMC could also counter threaten to close down the newly built TSMC fabs built in the USA as retaliation if new tariffs are put in place.

Or ignore it and let Americans pay higher prices. 20% while the floor for any other country in the world is 15% is almost the same. Also, it's not like you can purchase those chips from somewhere else.

Otherwise they risk doing like Fuji that spent millions to move production of some cameras back to Japan just to let TACO to change mind after a few weeks and get a similar tariff applied. End result: customers pay more

Wait, so they want to save Intel by getting a foreign cometitor buy them, instead of funding it appropriately themselves? That's a bold strategy.

Don't worry, Intel will still find a way to be a horrible company to invest in

Didnt have that on my 2025 world imploding bingo card.

oh Intel, how the mighty have fallen

Lol they want $400 billion in investment in the US too. However, aside from that, I sort of wonder how buying Intel would work out for TSMC. They'd basically be buying a research wing + existing US foundries. The most important thing for them would probably be ensuring that the foundries and so on in Taiwan are the most advanced to avoid the US ditching them if the PRC decides to invade.

What would that do to the stock btw?

Free markets and all that...

TSMC is not a government entity, why is it a party in this negotiation (if you can call it that) between governments anyway?

You ever known someone very capable and independent, get involved with an abusive and manipulative relationship? Just run, leave them and don't look back!

Didn't want to submit this separately since it's more business than hardware news, but Intel's credit rating got downgraded to BBB (from BBB+) by Fitch: https://www.techspot.com/news/108942-intel-credit-rating-drops-two-steps-above-junk.html

Investing another $400 billion in the US sounds like a bigger commitment than buying Intel.

I am not even sure what TSMC would do with 49% of Intel. Upgrade their Intel's existing fabs using TSMC tech? I can't imagine TSMC getting into developing semiconductors (e.g. x86 CPUs), doesn't seem to fit their strategy and Intel only strong position is x86 CPUs for laptops.

A mere decrease of tariffs from 20% to 15% doesn't seem all that enticing (without security guarantees for Taiwan), one would think TSMC could easily make their customers eat the 5% extra tariff cost, it's not like they have much of an option.

Trump is only doing this to save Intel which is already having trouble with new chip fabrication, so bring on the idiotic tarrifs and TSMC will sell to every other country and America will slowly fall behind the rest of the world.

Let it die