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Comment by corethree | Hacker News Reader

>I think a while back TSMC finally understood that building a factory in the US is just not feasible

TSMC always understood this. This wasn't a realization as the cost benefit analysis is obvious: US workers don't have the skill involved and they demand higher pay. The combination of the two makes the US plant a net loss.

TSMC did what they did because of political pressure. So the plan was always for the US plant to just satisfy that political pressure as much as possible. There was never a plan for the US plant to do anything profitable, it's more of a forced "technology transfer".

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It's nothing like a forced technology transfer at all. The US isn't acquiring TSMC tech in any manner what-so-ever. It could hack TSMC - as China does the US - if that's what it wanted.

The US is adding such domestic manufacturing for strategic national security reasons: namely, a modern tech-heavy economy can't function without the chips that power it. And yes, of course it pressured TSMC to contribute to that.

It's technology transfer. And it won't be obtained all through legal means.

Hacking isn't enough the amount of skill involved can't be gleaned from a computer file.

You need US based employees who can be poached who are doing espionage and all that. This is entirely what it's for. CIA and other defense agencies do this worse stuff. What I'm saying isn't out of the blue. And it's also quite obvious. There's really no real difference between manufacturing here or abroad so that is the only reason why they bring it here.

Most of the IP that TSMC make comes from US-based companies anyway. There's no "technology transfer".

You're describing technology transfer from the US to Taiwan. Which is absolutely true and happened. But the literal fact that the US can't build what Taiwan builds shows it's currently a literal transfer in the Other direction.

What I don't understand, is how thr initial US transfer to Taiwan negates the technology transfer I'm describing here? It doesn't.

I think you lack objectivity. Your American pride is getting in the way. Same with the downvoters I guess.

My comment has nothing to do with whether or not Taiwan or the US deserves or does not deserve to be a participant or victim in this "technology transfer" it's just a statement about reality.

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