GlobalWafers Co., based in Taiwan, will complete United States’ first 12-inch silicon wafer manufacturing facility on May 15, 2025.

The plant will focus on advanced 12-inch silicon wafers essential for semiconductor manufacturing and silicon-on-insulator wafers for defense and aerospace sectors.

The facility aims to address the US semiconductor component shortage and is expected to contribute to GlobalWafers’ sales in the second half of 2025.

The facility’s construction involved a US$5 billion investment, with support of up to US$406 million from the Chips and Science Act.

🔗 Source: Focus Taiwan

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ America’s silicon wafer comeback reflects 20+ years of manufacturing decline

GlobalWafers’ Texas plant represents the first high-volume 12-inch silicon wafer facility built in the United States in over two decades, highlighting America’s long absence from this critical sector.

The U.S. government played a pivotal role in the early semiconductor industry, with military and NASA purchasing 60% of all integrated circuits produced in the country by the mid-1960s, which helped establish the initial manufacturing base 1.

This decline in domestic silicon wafer production occurred despite semiconductors originating largely from American innovation, including the first integrated circuit patented by Jack Kilby in 1958 and the junction transistor developed by William Shockley in 1948 2.

The new facility’s importance is magnified when considering the foundational role silicon wafers play in all semiconductor manufacturing. They are the essential substrate upon which all chip designs are fabricated, making them critical to supply chain security.

The $406 million in CHIPS Act funding supporting this project is part of a broader $52.7 billion package designed to address decades of manufacturing migration to Asia and rebuild American semiconductor capabilities from the most basic components upward.

2️⃣ Taiwan-US semiconductor interdependence grows amid geopolitical tensions

GlobalWafers’ Texas plant represents a deepening of the already substantial Taiwan-US semiconductor partnership, which continues to expand despite regional tensions.

The bilateral trade between Texas and Taiwan reached $21.3 billion in 2023, with Taiwan ranked as the fifth largest Asian buyer of Texas goods, demonstrating the economic significance of this relationship beyond just technology sectors.

Taiwan currently dominates critical semiconductor manufacturing, producing approximately 90% of the world’s leading-edge chips, creating a strategic vulnerability that the US government is actively working to address through domestic investments 3.

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