Samsung may expand expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the United States at the behest of the Trump administration. Government officials are said to have already approached the Korean tech giant over the matter, but that scenario remains purely hypothetical. The incumbent executive powers are reportedly soliciting domestic chip to manufacture investments in response to the difficulties stemming from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Following the original COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, most of the largest supply chains in the world found themselves under heavy strain due to their over-reliance on Chinese foundry production.
A common belief in Washington is that something like that wouldn't have happened with more U.S.-focused logistics. That's according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, citing officials close to stateside administrators.
Samsung in the running alongside Intel, TSMC
The U.S. government is consequently hoping to see more stateside chipset factories moving forward, but it's still undecided whether it needs one or more partners to accomplish that goal. In other words, Samsung isn't the sitting administration's only option as Washington also discussed silicon production expansion with some of the Seoul-based company's fiercest global rivals. That would be Intel and TSMC, with the former currently being the favorite to open more foundry outlets in the country.
Samsung's stateside presence in the niche largely revolves around its chip fabrication complex in Austin, Texas. Its foundry subsidiary operates six other silicon plants, four of which are located in its home country, with the remaining two being in China. The Austin factory already piqued the Trump administration's interest several years back, at the beginning of its term. On that occasion, Samsung pumped a billion dollars into the outlet as a show of goodwill to President Trump and his protectionist economic platform.
