Taiwan to Export TSMC-Built "Science Park Model" to the U.S.

Taiwan is exporting its "science park model" for industry-academia collaboration to the United States. This means that the model which gave rise to TSMC will be transplanted to the U.S. The Taiwanese side appears to have made a strategic decision to not only build semiconductor factories in the U.S. in support of the Trump administration's initiative to foster a domestic advanced AI semiconductor industry, but also to export its talent and business model. Rather than simply increasing investment, the plan is expected to integrate manufacturing bases in the U.S. into a Taiwan-style industrial ecosystem, resulting in a form of supply chain integration between the two countries.

Exhibits at the Hsinchu Science Park History Museum in Taiwan showcase the changes in the science park. Photo by Kim Hyungmin

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According to the semiconductor industry on November 5, the Taiwan delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju announced at a debriefing session on November 3 that it had held in-depth discussions with the U.S. side regarding the transplantation of the "Taiwan model." This means exporting the science park, a successful Taiwanese semiconductor model, to the United States. It is reported that the U.S. government has also expressed its full support for this project.

Wu Chengwen, Minister without Portfolio of the Executive Yuan and Chairperson of the National Science and Technology Council, emphasized that during APEC, he met with high-level U.S. officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and agreed to establish a mutually beneficial relationship in the process of helping the U.S. rebuild its semiconductor manufacturing capabilities.

The delegation added that the U.S. side promised to provide the best possible support for various resources and administrative needs requested by Taiwan-including land, workforce, taxes, and visas-if Taiwan forms an industrial park development team and enters the U.S. market.

Chairperson Wu stated that the U.S. government "deeply understands that helping Taiwan is equivalent to helping the United States, and has agreed to the goal of further strengthening the connection between the two countries and ensuring smooth industrial development."

The "Taiwan-style science park" to be provided to the U.S. can be interpreted as exporting the very industrial policy that fostered TSMC. TSMC's headquarters and semiconductor production lines are located in science parks throughout Taiwan. The concept of the Taiwanese science park involves bringing schools and a variety of partner companies into the industrial park to enhance efficiency and speed.

The plan is to transfer to the U.S. the "time-to-market" competitiveness that enables rapid response to customer demands, mass production, and cost reduction. This is a tailored solution for the U.S., which has struggled to secure talent and supply chains even after attracting overseas manufacturers.

Chairperson Wu explained, "Given that most of the key customers for Taiwan's advanced semiconductor processes are American companies, it is not feasible to develop the semiconductor industry solely within Taiwan's science parks. It is more cost-effective to collaborate close to the customers."

The United States, which wants to establish an AI semiconductor cluster domestically, is also said to welcome the Taiwanese model as the fastest and most effective way to reduce costs.

The Taiwanese side is also moving to revise its plan to maintain cutting-edge semiconductor processes only within Taiwan. President Donald Trump has recently highlighted Nvidia's Blackwell GPU, now being produced at TSMC's U.S. plant, as the starting point for domestic AI semiconductor production in the United States.

The ultimate goal is to rapidly integrate Taiwan's domestic science parks and U.S. local factories into a "supply chain national team." This aims to save costs and time for manufacturers, increase yield, and create synergy with Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturing bases such as TSMC. The Taiwanese government also plans to provide support through credit guarantees and other measures to encourage voluntary investment by companies.

The Taiwanese side hopes that its model will expand beyond semiconductor foundry manufacturing to encompass AI servers, cloud data centers, and the entire spectrum of AI application fields, including ICT (information and communication technology).

Lee Eunho, former head of the Taipei Representative Office, said, "It appears that Taiwan has revised its existing semiconductor policy to reflect the position of the United States."

◆What is a Taiwanese science park? = It is the key driver that made Taiwan the "Silicon Valley of the world." Starting with the Hsinchu Science Park, central and southern science parks have also been established. These parks serve as core R&D and production bases for global semiconductor companies such as TSMC, and function as clusters that foster high-level talent and accelerate technological innovation through industry-academia collaboration models closely linked with major universities and research institutes.

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