Ever since Trump’s gotten into office, the White House has talked about “bringing chips home” like it’s a Home Depot weekend project.

Just pour some concrete, slap up a fab, and boom… semiconductor independence. Well Taiwan just came out again and explained that’s not how this works.

In a recent TV interview, Cheng Li-chiun, Taiwan’s vice premier and top trade negotiator, said U.S. requests to move 40% of the island’s semiconductor production to the United States were “impossible.” The comment was aimed at remarks made earlier this year by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who said Washington wants nearly half of Taiwan’s chipmaking capacity relocated during President Trump’s current term.

Cheng pointed out that Taiwan’s chip industry didn’t spring up overnight. It took decades to build, with chipmakers, suppliers, engineers, and equipment firms all working closely together. That kind of setup can’t just be packed up and recreated somewhere else on a tight political timeline. Taiwan is willing to expand overseas, including in the U.S., but only if the core of the industry stays anchored at home.

That context helps explain the pushback. Taiwan’s chip advantage goes beyond factories. It comes from having everything (materials, tools, talent, and production) close together. When those pieces stay connected, things run more efficiently and costs stay lower. Pull too much of it apart, and that advantage starts to weaken.

At the same time, Taiwan isn’t shutting the door on the U.S. far from it. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has already committed more than $65 billion to build factories in the U.S., mainly in Arizona. The company has said total U.S. investment could eventually reach $165 billion. Those plants will make chips for major American customers like Apple and Nvidia, supported by incentives from the CHIPS and Science Act.

Even so, U.S. officials want more than a few large plants. Washington has been clear it wants hundreds of smaller companies across the chip supply chain to follow TSMC into the U.S. That’s where reality starts to set in. Analysts point to a lack of skilled workers, higher building and operating costs, and long construction timelines as major hurdles. Advanced chip factories take years to plan and build, regardless of how strong the political push is.

Lutnick has also warned that Taiwanese chipmakers that don’t expand production in the U.S. could face tariffs as high as 100%, raising the stakes in ongoing talks. Still, industry experts say threats don’t change the basic limits of time, talent, and cost that come with advanced manufacturing.

Taiwan has also set clear rules on technology. Under its so-called N-2 policy, overseas plants must use chipmaking processes that are at least two generations behind the most advanced ones used at home. The idea is to protect Taiwan’s lead in cutting-edge chips while still allowing companies to grow abroad.

Shares of TSMC rose about 2% in Taiwan trading after the comments were made.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.