Despite being the birthplace of microchips in the 1950s and remaining a top chip design hub, the U.S. now manufactures only 10% of the world's chips and none of the most advanced ones. When supply chain chaos collided with booming demand for consumer electronics during the pandemic, the resulting chip shortage exposed the big risks of relying on outsiders for such a critical technology.
In the event of aggression between China and Taiwan, an earthquake or some other event that impacts Taiwan for a period of time, "the entire market, the entire world could suffer from lack of availability of leading edge nodes," Newman said.