Taiwanese firms’ US chip investment has reached a new scale, with companies from the island pledging a further $20bn in fresh commitments on top of the $35bn already announced, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). The announcement came on the opening day of SEMICON Taiwan 2026, the annual trade show for the semiconductor and microelectronics manufacturing industry held in Taipei.
MOEA Minister Kung Ming-hsin said semiconductor links between Taiwan and the United States are deepening, with companies increasingly treating US-based investment as a core part of their strategic planning. The newly disclosed $20bn is described as an addition to an earlier tally, not a component of it, with the ministry attributing the growth to sustained expansion in market demand.
TSMC Arizona approval and the $44bn total
The announcement at SEMICON Taiwan sits alongside a separate development reported by Focus Taiwan: the MOEA approved a $20bn capital injection by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) into its wholly owned US subsidiary, TSMC Arizona. According to Focus Taiwan, it marked the sixth time the department has approved TSMC investments in the United States, bringing the total amount cleared for the company’s US operations to $44bn.
That figure underlines the scale of the bilateral industrial relationship that Minister Kung described. The MOEA’s own assessment, carried out ahead of the SelectUSA conference, had identified 20 firms across the semiconductor and AI server space that, by May 2026, had announced US investment commitments totalling $35bn combined. The newly disclosed $20bn comes on top of that earlier figure.
Lutnick signal and the trade agreement backdrop
The disclosure was not entirely unexpected in Washington. Ahead of the SEMICON Taiwan event, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box that Taiwan was expected to announce plans to invest an additional $20bn to $30bn in the US as part of a bilateral trade agreement focused on semiconductors, AI and energy, according to the Taipei Times. The MOEA’s announcement broadly matched that range.
The ministry said it expects continued expansion in investment tied to AI and semiconductor server production, alongside developing collaboration in biotechnology and natural gas. It further stated it would back the rollout of these investment initiatives and maintain its stated approach of being “based in Taiwan, expanding globally”, aimed at strengthening industrial ties with the US.
Inbound FDI and major deals
Alongside the outward flow of Taiwanese capital, Minister Kung reported that foreign direct investment flowing into Taiwan reached $13.9bn from January to July 2026, a 78% increase against the equivalent period the previous year. Micron accounted for the largest share of that inbound total, through a debt-to-equity swap worth $7.5bn. In a separate move, Nvidia confirmed a $3.5bn investment in MediaTek.
In a translated version of its statement, the MOEA said: ‘Taiwan looks forward to forging a closer Taiwan-US partnership and strengthening mutually beneficial investment. The Ministry is also continuously working to create a favourable investment environment to attract foreign investment to Taiwan.’
US presence at Taipei trade show
The US delegation at SEMICON Taiwan 2026 brings together 11 economic development bodies and companies representing Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Ohio, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Taiwan’s Industrial Development Administration and Department of Technology, in conjunction with the Industrial Technology Research Institute, set up dedicated pavilions as components of the broader event.
The MOEA said it would continue working to create conditions for further Taiwanese firms’ US chip investment, with biotechnology and natural gas collaboration identified as the next areas where it expects the partnership to develop.
