GOP lawmaker credits Trump’s business prowess for major investment in state: ‘Knows how to make deals’

The recent announcement by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to pour another $100 billion into the United States will have a direct impact on Arizona, but the debate on the future of the semiconductor industry persists after President Donald Trump’s address on Tuesday night.

Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., said that Trump’s influence played a critical role in the company building on their existing investment in the Grand Canyon State, as the announcement happened at the White House earlier this week.

“He knows how to make deals and having foreign companies come in the United States. That’s the best of all worlds because they’re abandoning the policies over there to come to United States to benefit from our lower regulation, our less taxes,” the congressman, whose district houses the TSMC facility, said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, prior to Trump’s speech.

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“It’s gonna be great. And for my constituents, again, we’re pushing hard to make sure that they focus on hiring Americans and veterans,” he added. Hamadeh’s staff met with TSMC last month, according to a news release.

The announcement comes as the president calls for the repeal of the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill that provided direct financial incentives to grow the semiconductor industry supply chain.

“Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing. They take our money and they don’t spend it,” Trump said on Tuesday night.

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The debate about the semiconductor industry’s success with the act largely centers around whether companies are coming to the U.S. because of a preferable business environment or because of grant and loan deals.

The legislation, which passed with some bipartisan support in 2022, came under direct scrutiny last year as Intel had major layoffs despite being cleared for $8.5 billion in federal funding.

“The CHIPS Act is what helped get TSMC to the US and Arizona. And it brought their $100 billion announcement that came earlier this week—at the White House. Getting rid of the CHIPS Act would hurt the entire American microchip industry, including suppliers, American companies, and more,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., posted to X on Tuesday night, as the repeal effort was mentioned in Trump’s Joint Address to Congress.

“Plus, it unravels the years of bipartisan work it took to bring these investments to Arizona. We can’t let politics get in the way of that,” the senator added.

When it comes to TSMC in particular, the effort to woo the large chip producer was well underway during the first Trump administration – before the act became law under former President Joe Biden, but the company did enter preliminary agreements for financial incentives under the program.

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“It was actually President Trump, Ric Grinnell, Wilbur Ross, that brought [TSMC] into the United States,” Hamadeh said.

The freshman Republican lawmaker added that the president’s tariff policies, which include Mexico and Canada, will help boost American manufacturing.

“I think tariffs is excellent, because you’re already seeing the results of it so quickly. These companies, they understand they could hire Americans, they could manufacture in America. Right now, there’s just an incentive for them not to,” he said. “And now what President Trump has removed that incentive by a lot, by imposing these tariffs. So clearly his policies are working.”

The bulk of the semiconductor industry rests in Taiwan, which has raised national security concerns given the high tensions between China and the U.S. Chips play a critical role in operating everyday technology, including consumer electronics like phones and computers.