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Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is running for another term in the White House, has stated that Taiwan should pay the United States for its defense, arguing that the country “doesn’t give us anything.” His comments were made in response to a question about whether he would defend Taiwan against China during an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published Tuesday.
Trump likened the U.S. to an insurance company, suggesting that Taiwan should compensate the U.S. for its defense efforts. “You know, we’re no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn’t give us anything,” he said.
He also linked his remarks to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, one of the most advanced in the world, alleging, “[Taiwan] did take about 100% of our chip business,” although he provided no evidence for this claim.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, Taiwan manufactures 92% of the world’s advanced microchips. The U.S., which was once a leader in semiconductor manufacturing, now accounts for only 6% of global production due to industry trends that led to the rise of companies like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). TSMC, the world’s largest and most advanced chipmaker, produces chips for major American companies such as Apple and Nvidia. Taiwan is projected to account for 66% of the production of the world’s most advanced chips this year, according to TrendForce data.
Following Trump’s comments, shares of TSMC fell 2.4% in Taiwan.
Concerns have been mounting over the global reliance on Taiwan for chip manufacturing, especially regarding the potential impact of a Chinese attack on the island. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has called reunification with the mainland “a historical inevitability.”
TSMC Chair Mark Liu warned in 2022 that a Chinese invasion would render TSMC’s factories inoperable. “Nobody can control TSMC by force. If you take a military force or invasion, you will render TSMC factory not operable,” Liu said.
In response to these concerns, the Biden administration has been working to bring more chip manufacturing back to the U.S. through grants aimed at encouraging companies like TSMC and Samsung to expand their production facilities in America.
Reflecting on the situation, Trump remarked, “They took almost 100% of our chip industry, I give them credit. We should have never let that happen.” He also expressed skepticism about current efforts to incentivize chip production in the U.S., saying, “Now we’re giving them billions of dollars to build new chips in our country, and then they’re going to take that too, in other words, they’ll build it but then they’ll bring it back to their country.”