US President Donald Trump says he threatened Apple chipmaker with 100% tax: ‘TSMC, I gave them no money… all I did was say…’

US President Donald Trump has stated that he told the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) that it will be subjected to a tax of up to 100% should the company fail to construct its planned factories within the country. This development coincides with a separate report indicating that the Apple chipmaker could potentially face a penalty of $1 billion or more to resolve an ongoing export control investigation regarding a chip it manufactured that was subsequently found within a Huawei AI processor.

During a Republican National Congressional Committee event, Trump criticised Joe Biden’s administration for granting TSMC’s US unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona, arguing that chip companies do not require such financial assistance.