In 2025, on Thursday, Taiwan's semiconductor giant, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), revealed that it had inked a memorandum of understanding with Pole Semiconductor, headquartered in the U.S., to jointly explore avenues for 8-inch wafer production within the United States. Prior to this, persistent whispers in the industry had hinted at a possible merger between UMC and GlobalFoundries, another U.S.-based semiconductor firm. Some reports even went as far as to speculate that the head of Taiwan's Economic Affairs Department might lead a delegation to the U.S. to formalize a merger agreement. However, UMC remained tight-lipped on these rumors, simply stating that it refrains from commenting on market speculation.

Meanwhile, the United States is actively seeking to diminish its dependence on Taiwan's semiconductor sector. U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent has openly acknowledged that a staggering 99% of the world's high-performance chips are manufactured in Taiwan, warning that any disruptions to this supply chain could wreak havoc on the global economy. In response, the U.S. is championing the relocation of chip production, with a goal of shifting 30% to 50% of chip manufacturing to the U.S. or its ally nations.