Trump plan to restore manufacturing, critical tech dominance on stage in Arizona with Taiwan's TSCM

President Trump’s second term comes with a promise to lead America to reclaim its dominance in manufacturing and critical technology. There’s evidence that the resurgence is well underway.

A case in point is unfolding in real time just outside Phoenix, Arizona, where Full Measure recently visited a huge plant being built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC.

TSMC says it’s making a $165 billion investment, building six state-of-the-art chip factories to power everything from iPhones to AI. It’s one of the largest foreign direct investments in U.S. history.

Greg Jackson is an executive at TSMC.

“I think it really changes the landscape,” he tells Full Measure. “If you look over the years we've dropped to somewhere around 10% or less chips made in the United States. Now we're bringing that back into the United States and bringing it back in the most advanced technology into the United States.”

“How does this factor into President Trump's idea for a resurgence in US manufacturing?” we ask him. 

“This is a great example of the resurgence of manufacturing,” he replies. “We're bringing in a large amount of jobs and large amount of very technically skilled jobs. So this is a prime example of bringing back manufacturing into the United States. It's not just creating the semiconductors, it's all of the ecosystem that goes around making semiconductors. It's everything that ties into it as well.”

Trump has made a manufacturing surge a pillar of his second term, in part to reduce America’s risky dependence on China and other foreign powers.

Part of the strategy involves threatening and imposing steep tariffs. The policy moves have been widely criticized by parts of the news media and some analysts.

But Trump and his allies say these policies are spurring many companies to build or expand on U.S. soil.

TSMC is among the biggest, but the White House has counted nearly $9 trillion worth of investments so far in Trump’s second term with promised spending including pharmaceutical, computer, energy, AI and critical minerals companies.

Mark Freeman is mayor of Mesa where another new factory is being built. This one by Cyclic Materials to convert recycled items into rare earth material. Freeman says his Arizona city is perfectly situated for a boom that drives jobs and other economic growth.

“We have a great manufacturing community here already,” he says. "The president continues to support and bringing manufacturing back to the United States. I know when I was younger, everything was built in the United States and [now] it’s gone offshore or elsewhere.” 

He also says the new surge is “a great thing for the United States” and “I welcome it.”

TSMC’s Phoenix expansion could generate 40,000 construction jobs and tens of thousands of tech positions. 

As factories rise and workers train, there are high hopes that a comeback is taking root. If Trump’s vision delivers, the results could write the next chapter in America’s manufacturing story.