Comment by ThalesX | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ThalesX | Hacker News Reader

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> Fair, but this autonomy seems to be tenuous at the moment and grows more so as time passes. You must be aware what the US is willing to do when it comes to national interest. Chips are on par with energy/oil, possibly regarded as even more important economically and militarily.

> I'm sure there will be a carrot and a stick, but if this happens, an offer will be made that TSMC can't refuse.

I comprehend this U.S.-centric viewpoint. However, from the perspective of an independent nation state, this narrative sends a cautionary message: 'Beware of creating a product that becomes too integrated into the U.S. supply chain, because you will get rich but risk forfeiting your right to self-determination.'

It is somewhat disappointing to see that, on this forum where more nuanced discussions are expected, this is the default (and appreciated) perspective.

Couldn't the opposite also be true though? Not having a product that is heavily integrated into the U.S. supply chain means the U.S. may not come to your aid when your neighbor invades.

This is very true! Which is why this is a fine balancing act on Taiwan, and not the simplistic 'hurr durr US interests can't allow that'. They need to carefully weight their options, and decide what is best for their nation under the circumstances.

The US absolutely would be very carefully considering options.

Their primary preference would be for no conflict, so they put up a front of bravado to discourage any aggression. He question does remain, if they'd actually respond to such an invasion.

Could we say that almost any powerful country will try to protect their critical supply chains with every available mean? This is just plain realpolitik.

The majority of USA's most critical supply chains come from China proper (PRC), not Taiwan.

If this was fundamentally about economic security for the average American, Washington would not jeopardize those with economic and military brinkmanship.

Could you list some of these critical supply components? I mean, TSMC is unique, ASML (Dutch) is more unique. What other unique components does China have? Obviously Apple depends on Foxconn but we can envision that they could be replaced within a 10-year period while TSMC or ASML not. Really curious.

USA imported approximately $537,000,000,000 in goods from China last year. Medical supplies, etc. It's not just about high tech.

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