US President Donald Trump made a sharp statement, accusing Taiwan of stealing the American semiconductor industry. According to the US leader, the Taiwanese semiconductor sector has reached its current global scale primarily due to the lack of stringent tariffs from Washington in the past. Trump expressed confidence that timely tariff implementation could have prevented the mass offshoring of high-tech component manufacturing, ultimately resulting in the loss of a strategically important industrial sector for the United States.

International analysts and industry observers point out the historical inaccuracies in the US president’s position. Taiwan’s leading chip manufacturer, TSMC, was largely founded by engineer Morris Chang, who obtained American citizenship and worked for a quarter-century at Texas Instruments, a US-based company. Therefore, the rise of the Taiwanese giant was made possible by the experience gained within the American industry. Moreover, American businesses have voluntarily outsourced production to firms like TSMC over decades, particularly as domestic production costs have increased.

Despite significant global upheaval and economic instability caused by the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East, Taiwan’s economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience. In the first quarter of 2026, the island nation’s GDP grew by nearly 13.7% year-over-year, marking an absolute record for the Taiwanese economy and the highest growth rate since 1987.