[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] On the 3rd, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, who visited Taiwan, said in a congressional speech, "Taiwan is one of the freest societies in the world," and expressed her desire to increase congressional exchanges.
According to the British daily The Guardian, Speaker Pelosi said, "The U.S. semiconductor bill will provide a good opportunity for cooperation in the semiconductor industry between the U.S. and Taiwan." The 'semiconductor bill' she referred to is the recently passed semiconductor industry promotion bill in the U.S. Congress.
This bill includes a plan to support the semiconductor industry with $52 billion (approximately 68 trillion KRW) for building semiconductor facilities in the U.S., research and workforce development, and defense-related semiconductor manufacturing. It also includes a provision to apply a 25% tax credit to companies building semiconductor factories in the U.S.
On the same day, Speaker Pelosi will also meet with Liu Deyin, Chairman of Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company. TSMC is considered a key company supplying semiconductors in large quantities to the U.S. and the West.
The Washington Post (WP) interpreted the meeting between the two as demonstrating the importance of semiconductors in the U.S. economy and security.
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