U.S. semiconductor plant construction planned with Japanese financing
Expanded local production offers opportunities for Japanese equipment supply and production cooperation
Leveraging materials, components and equipment expertise to expand earnings in the U.S. market

Japan is supporting the construction of semiconductor plants in the United States, helping its materials, components and equipment industries enter the U.S. market. Under an arrangement in which Japan provides financing and a U.S. company operates the plants, Japanese companies are expected to supply equipment and cooperate in semiconductor production. The initiative appears designed to turn the expansion of U.S. semiconductor production into earnings for Japanese companies by leveraging their accumulated expertise in materials and equipment. Japan’s materials, components and equipment industries are also expanding capacity for their core products while investing in advanced materials and sensors for AI and electric vehicles, broadening their product offerings for overseas customers.

USD 21 Billion Investment to Include Tokyo Electron and Renesas

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun and other outlets on the 15th, U.S. semiconductor foundry GlobalFoundries plans to build two semiconductor plants in New York State in cooperation with Japanese companies. The plants are expected to produce logic chips for telecommunications and automotive applications, supplying Japanese automakers with production operations in the United States, among other customers. Unlike memory chips, which store data, logic chips are a type of system semiconductor that performs information-processing functions such as computation, decision-making and control.

Earlier, on the 14th local time, U.S. President Donald Trump said on the social media platform Truth Social, “Today, under my leadership, GlobalFoundries and the Department of Commerce, led by Secretary Howard Lutnick, announced a massive USD 21 billion investment (approximately USD 21.7 billion) to build two huge new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Malta, New York.” Trump explained that the investment would create 27,000 high-paying construction and supply-chain jobs and more than 1,000 highly skilled manufacturing jobs in New York State. He added, “Under my direction, Japan will provide the financing needed for this USD 21 billion investment.”

The investment is expected to be financed through loans from major Japanese banks, including the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Construction of the first of the two new plants is reportedly scheduled to begin before the end of the year, with production targeted to start in 2029. Major Japanese semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron and chipmaker Renesas Electronics are expected to participate in the plant construction project. In February, Renesas announced plans to jointly produce next-generation automotive semiconductors with GlobalFoundries.

U.S. Production Base Offers Export Opportunities for Japanese Materials, Components and Equipment

The investment is seen as an effort to expand business opportunities for Japan’s semiconductor industry by using the production infrastructure of a U.S. company. Under the business structure outlined by GlobalFoundries, a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) owned by U.S. and Japanese interests would own the plants and production equipment, while GlobalFoundries would oversee construction, provide process technology and operate the facilities once they come online. The Malta site already has production facilities and a skilled workforce, and key permits required to build the first plant have been secured. Japan will participate by financing this existing local base while also securing opportunities for its companies to supply equipment and procure semiconductors.

Equipment orders during plant construction are considered a primary source of revenue for Japanese companies. GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen explained that some of the Japanese investment would flow to Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers, including Tokyo Electron. He also expressed an intention to actively promote Japanese participation in equipment procurement. The arrangement would allow Japan to pursue higher sales for its equipment industry while fulfilling its investment commitments to the United States. Tokyo Electron said it would participate in expanding U.S. production capacity, building on its existing relationship supplying equipment to GlobalFoundries plants around the world.

Table 1. Leveraging GlobalFoundries’ U.S. Customer Network and Production Cooperation With Renesas

Expanding Semiconductor Sales Through U.S. Customer Networks

On the sales side, another advantage is access to GlobalFoundries’ established U.S. customer network. Apple and Renesas are among the initial customers for the new plants, and GlobalFoundries will manage customer relationships. Apple has already been working with GlobalFoundries to produce semiconductors for its products in the United States, while General Motors (GM) also procures automotive chips under a direct supply agreement. This provides a basis for connecting new production facilities funded and equipped by Japan with U.S. companies’ existing procurement networks. CEO Breen said discussions were underway with multiple customers beyond existing partners seeking to secure U.S.-produced supplies.

Renesas, in particular, plans to broaden the process technologies used in its products while making use of U.S. production facilities. Renesas CEO Hidetoshi Shibata outlined plans to use the new capacity in New York as an extension of the company’s production base. The cooperation previously agreed upon by the two companies includes process technologies for producing system-on-chips (SoCs), power semiconductors and microcontrollers (MCUs). The aim is to ensure stable supplies of semiconductors needed for vehicle electrification, advanced driver-assistance functions and industrial equipment automation. Production cooperation is set to begin in the United States and expand to other GlobalFoundries locations, including Germany and Singapore. The companies are also reportedly considering introducing some of the process technologies at Renesas’ own plants in Japan.

Japan Accelerates Materials and Equipment Capacity Expansion to Meet Advanced Chip Demand

As cooperation with overseas customers expands, Japan is also expanding domestic production facilities and research and development (R&D) infrastructure for materials, components and equipment. In April last year, Tokyo Electron completed a new research building in Miyagi Prefecture for developing plasma etching equipment and other products, at a cost of JPY 52 billion (approximately USD 342 million). The investment aims to improve the performance of equipment needed for precision processing as semiconductor circuitry becomes finer and structures more complex. The company is also pursuing plans to build a new production building in the same area, investing JPY 104 billion (approximately USD 683 million) with completion targeted for summer 2027. The new building will incorporate logistics automation and mechanized manufacturing processes to increase equipment supply capacity and production efficiency.

In the materials industry, companies continue to expand supplies of the high-purity, high-performance products needed to manufacture advanced semiconductors. Semiconductor materials maker Resonac announced in June that it planned to begin producing high-purity hydrogen fluoride gas for semiconductors at its Tokuyama plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture before the end of this year. By adding a production location alongside its existing Kawasaki plant, the company aims to establish a two-site supply system in Japan. High-purity hydrogen fluoride gas is used in etching processes that carve semiconductor circuitry, and demand is also increasing for cryogenic etching, which processes multilayer structures deeply and precisely. Resonac plans to focus on improving both product purity and supply stability as chips for AI and data centers become more highly integrated.

Materials investment is also active in lithography, a process essential to creating fine circuitry. Semiconductor and chemical materials maker Shin-Etsu Chemical has established a production and R&D base for semiconductor lithography materials in Isesaki, Gunma Prefecture. At its earnings briefing in April this year, the company announced an expansion in supply capacity through the new facility’s operation. The first-phase investment plan, including land acquisition costs, totals JPY 83 billion (approximately USD 545 million). This is the company’s fourth lithography materials production base, following its site in Taiwan. Shin-Etsu Chemical has developed and commercialized photoresists and photomask blanks used to form semiconductor circuits, as well as materials for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. The new base will also house R&D functions to support the development of materials needed for customers’ transitions to finer manufacturing processes.

Investment Also Active in Protective and Insulating Materials for Highly Integrated Semiconductors

Capacity expansion and new product development are also underway in packaging materials, which connect and protect semiconductors. Diversified chemical company Asahi Kasei plans to invest JPY 16 billion (approximately USD 105 million) to double photosensitive polyimide production capacity at its plant in Fuji, Shizuoka Prefecture, by 2030 compared with 2024. Used in semiconductor protective coatings and insulating layers, the material is the focus of an investment intended to address rising demand driven by greater integration in AI chips. In May this year, the company also developed a film-type material that can be applied uniformly to large rectangular panels, aiming to improve productivity in advanced packaging.

Alongside semiconductor materials, Asahi Kasei also operates a sensor business using compound semiconductors. Its electronic components subsidiary, Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM), has developed sensor products by combining compound semiconductor technology with analog circuit technology for silicon semiconductors. A flagship technology is the thin-film Hall element, which converts magnetic fields into electrical signals. In 1983, the company commercialized a product combining an indium antimonide (InSb) thin film with ferrite, a magnetic material. A structure that concentrates magnetic fields increased sensitivity, while improvements to the electrode structure ensured thermal stability and durability, laying the groundwork for mass production. Technologies accumulated during development are also being applied to other semiconductor devices, including infrared sensors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).