Yet the latest clash with Taipei suggests otherwise. Just days ago, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick demanded that Taiwan agree to a 50-50 split in chip production, with half relocated to the United States. Taiwan’s Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun immediately pushed back , stressing that its negotiating team “has never made any commitment to a 50-50 split on chips … nor would we agree to such conditions.”

Arizona’s desert is now home to some of the world’s most advanced semiconductor plants, hailed as proof that the United States has clawed back control over the technologies of the future. Politicians and pundits celebrated the arrival of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Phoenix as a triumph of industrial policy, a sign that Washington can still bend globalization to its will. Ribbon-cuttings and glowing headlines told a story of sovereignty regained.

Arizona’s desert is now home to some of the world’s most advanced semiconductor plants, hailed as proof that the United States has clawed back control over the technologies of the future. Politicians and pundits celebrated the arrival of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in Phoenix as a triumph of industrial policy, a sign that Washington can still bend globalization to its will. Ribbon-cuttings and glowing headlines told a story of sovereignty regained.

Yet the latest clash with Taipei suggests otherwise.