Bessent’s Cheap Joke; TSMC Goes on the Defense
**Bessent’s Cheap Joke; TSMC Goes on the Defense**
By Martin Peers
Mar 6, 2025, 5:00pm PST
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at the Economic Club of New York earlier today. Photo via Getty.
What country is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent living in? Apparently not the U.S., judging by his statement on Thursday that "access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American dream." Really? He's never seen the crush of people outside a store on the day after Thanksgiving, or witnessed people lining up outside sample sales in New York? You might say that for many people, a good bargain is the American dream.
Of course, the definition of the American dream is hardly written in stone. But retailers certainly believe American consumers are fixated on getting "cheap goods." Walmart, Amazon, and Temu have all become shopping behemoths by emphasizing their low prices. Walmart's slogan is "everyday low prices." Amazon says on its website, "while our business has evolved over the years, one constant is customers' desire for lower prices." Temu is more subtle: It promotes itself with the tagline "Shop like a billionaire."
Bessent, whose net worth is more than $500 million, surely knows how to shop like a, well, half-billionaire. With his statement, he seems to be preparing Americans for a world of higher prices, which, given the Trump administration's tariff policies, is understandable. Just how popular that approach will be with consumers is a whole different question.
**TSMC Goes on Defense**
Meanwhile, it's a telling sign of how topsy-turvy things have become under the second Trump administration that executives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's biggest chipmaker and a vital piece of Taiwan's economy, held a press conference on Thursday in Taipei to defend the company against Taiwanese critics of its $100 billion planned investment in the U.S.
In what was a real coup for President Donald Trump, TSMC on Monday outlined plans to build several new facilities, including three new chip-fabrication plants, in the U.S. The investment would be a big step toward elevating U.S. chip manufacturing prowess—which appears to be why some in Taiwan don't like it.
According to our Asia editor, Jing Yang, the announcement angered many in Taiwan, who worry that if TSMC shifts too much advanced manufacturing capacity to the U.S., that will leave Taiwan more exposed to a Chinese invasion. Under this line of thinking, the U.S. would have less reason to help protect Taiwan. Even members of Taiwan's opposition party, the KMT, raised the issue.
Leaving aside the knotty question of how the U.S. would respond to a Chinese invasion, building advanced plants in the U.S. doesn't necessarily mean shutting any down in Taiwan. At Thursday's press conference, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei made the point that the investment was a response to increasing customer demand for AI chips. TSMC's manufacturing capacity was fully booked this year and next, he said, so adding plants makes sense. To clarify that point, Taiwan's government announced on Tuesday that it would ensure TSMC's most advanced processes stay in Taiwan.