Samsung Electronics Co., of South Korea, is considering an investment of up to $ 17 billion to build a chip factory in Arizona, Texas or New York, according to documents and people familiar with the company’s plans.
Samsung is exploring two locations in and around Phoenix, two locations in and near Austin and a large industrial campus in Genesee County, west of New York, according to one person.
An important factor in whether Samsung is moving forward with the expansion will be the availability of US federal government incentives to offset those offered by foreign countries and cheaper costs in other parts of the world, according to someone familiar with the matter.
The proposal comes as the U.S. weighs in to allocate billions of dollars in funding to grow U.S. chip manufacturing and reduce its dependence on Taiwan, China and South Korea. The National Defense Authorization Act passed in January included new incentives for chip making, although the measures have not yet received funding.
The plant proposed by Samsung would employ 1,900 people and aims to be operational by October 2022, according to correspondence seen in the Wall Street Journal between Samsung and the municipal manager of Goodyear, Arizona, one of the sites that the company is considering. As is customary in large industrial projects, Goodyear local authorities offer a number of incentives, including tax breaks and infrastructure upgrades to attract the factory, according to the letter.