Trump claims nearly 50% chip share

President Donald Trump said on April 21 that the United States will have nearly 50% of the global chip market “very soon.” (thestandard.com.hk) Trump paired that claim with a new tariff threat, saying chipmakers without factories in the United States could face “a tremendous tariff” in a year and a half or two years. (thestandard.com.hk) The White House had already moved in January. A January 14 fact sheet said Trump imposed a 25% tariff on certain advanced computing chips, including Nvidia H200 and Advanced Micro Devices MI325X products, and said broader semiconductor tariffs could follow. (whitehouse.gov) A chip foundry is the factory that prints circuits onto silicon wafers for companies like Apple and Nvidia. The bottleneck is that many of the world’s most advanced chips are still made outside the United States, especially in Taiwan. (whitehouse.gov) (thestandard.com.hk) Trump’s number runs ahead of the buildout now underway. TSMC says its Arizona project has grown from $12 billion to $165 billion and now includes six fabs, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research center. (tsmc.com) TSMC says its first Arizona fab started high-volume production on 4-nanometer technology in the fourth quarter of 2024. Its second Arizona fab is targeted for 3-nanometer volume production in the second half of 2027, with a third fab aimed at 2-nanometer and A16 later in the decade. (tsmc.com) (abc15.com) Intel is pitching itself as the other big U.S. manufacturing option. The company said in October 2025 that Panther Lake, its first client processor on Intel 18A, would enter high-volume production in Arizona, and called 18A the most advanced semiconductor node developed and manufactured in the United States. (intc.com) That backdrop helps explain why reports about Apple and Nvidia looking at Intel got attention in January. Yahoo Finance, citing DigiTimes via Tom’s Hardware, said Apple and Nvidia were considering Intel as a possible supplier starting in 2028, while keeping most critical Nvidia GPU production with TSMC. (finance.yahoo.com) Those reports are still prospective, not announced contracts. But they point to the same pressure Trump is trying to intensify: move more chip production onto U.S. soil before tariffs get wider and more expensive. (finance.yahoo.com) (whitehouse.gov) For companies buying chips for artificial intelligence servers, phones, and laptops, the immediate fact is simpler than Trump’s 50% claim. The United States is adding fabs fast, but the supply chain is still being rearranged in public. (tsmc.com) (thestandard.com.hk)