> I see the point being made here, and yeah 5%-20% extra for what amounts to insurance against geopolitics isn't too bad

Well that is an insurance only for the US. As a european, I feel safer, or at best neutral, knowing my ships are made in the Taiwan rather than the US, so having them more 5-20% more expensive is not competitive.

With all their antagonizing of allies, and predatory privacy laws, and repeated espionage on allies, the US has disintegrated any trust other parties have to buy things made there.

As a European I would like geographically and politically dispersed production lines for one of the most important products of the 21 century. Domestic production would be idal, but whatever we can get is a plus.

Because Taiwan is a small, earthquake prone island perpetually on the brink of invasion of a superpower 180 kilometers away. And antagonizing, predatory privacy laws and espionage is also an issue with CCP, however we still import a lot of electronics and semiconductors from there.

Let's not forget that the US is only _one_ member of Five Eyes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyes

Credit where credit is due: Australia, UK, New Zealand and Canada are all doing their major parts in espionage on each other and everyone else as a service as part of Five Eyes.

As a European myself, I am pretty miffed that my fellow Europeans keep acting like we're not leading the charge when it comes to spying on each other.

What are you going to do when China invades Taiwan, though?

If rumors are to be believed, TSMC will scuttle their fabs before they fall into Chinese hands. Even if they don't, or fail to execute, Taiwan-based chip production will be disrupted for years.

Bet you'll be happy that TSMC has fabs in the US, despite your understandable misgivings.