The computer chip factories rising from an empty expanse of the Sonoran Desert test the concept of immensity. The complex is under construction across 1,149 acres, an area larger than New York’s Central Park. It represents an investment of $165 billion, making it one of the most expensive undertakings on Earth.

從索諾蘭沙漠的一片空地上拔地而起的晶片工廠正在測試「巨大」這一概念的極限。建設中的園區佔地約465公頃，比紐約中央公園還要大。它的投資額達到1650億美元，是地球上最昂貴的工程之一。

Here on the northern edges of Phoenix stands a display of America’s reach for industrial self-sufficiency. The factories are engineered to make advanced computer chips — the brains of modern manufacturing. Those chips will power data centers that deliver artificial intelligence.

矗立在菲尼克斯城北郊的這片工廠體現了美國追求工業自給自足的雄心。這些工廠用於生產先進的計算機晶片，也就是現代製造業的大腦。它們將為提供人工智慧服務的數據中心提供動力。

American political leaders celebrate the presence of the plants as insurance against geopolitical turmoil and disasters like pandemics. Whatever happens, the nation will have its own supply of computer chips.

美國政治領導人將這些工廠視為應對地緣政治動盪和大流行病等災難的保險。無論發生什麼狀況，美國都不用擔心計算機晶片的供應。

But the company at the center of this enterprise — one cast as vital to national security — is not American. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, the global leader in the industry, has marshaled the investment, the people and the know-how to turn these plans into reality.

但在這一舉措背後居於核心地位、被視為對國家安全至關重要的企業卻並非一家美國公司。全球行業龍頭台灣積體電路製造公司（下稱台積電）調動了投資、人力與專業知識，使這些計劃成為現實。

Scores of other companies, some of them American but many from East Asia, have set up their own local factories to supply TSMC with everything it needs, from chemicals and components to construction and engineering services. Collectively, they have invested an additional $40 billion in the local economy.

數十家公司——有些是美國的，但更多來自東亞——也紛紛在此建廠，從化學品、零組件到建築與工程服務，為台積電提供所需的一切配套支持。它們總共為當地經濟投入了400億美元。

This is the inescapable truth behind the transformation of Phoenix into a hub for computer chips: It could never have happened without the expertise and money brought in from across the Pacific. The last major domestic chip plant came online in 2013. So the United States lacks the experience to build one without considerable help.

這就是菲尼克斯轉變為計算機晶片中心背後無法迴避的事實：如果沒有來自太平洋彼岸的專業技術和資金，這一切根本不可能發生。美國上一次大型本土晶片廠上線還是在2013年。因此，美國缺乏在沒有大量外援的情況下自行建設此類晶片廠的經驗。

And even with that assistance, the experience has been tumultuous, fraught with missteps and enormously expensive. The process that has turned a blank spot on the map into what some now call the Silicon Desert underscores a defining feature of American life: A tangle of bureaucracy often hinders ambitious visions, sowing confusion, uncertainty and delay. That tends to reinforce inertia and discourage development.

而且即便有這樣的協助，建廠過程仍然狀況不斷、失誤百出，而且代價極為高昂。從地圖上的一片空白變成如今有人稱為「硅漠」的地方，這一過程凸顯出美國社會的一個決定性特徵：繁複的官僚體系常常阻礙雄心勃勃的願景，帶來混亂、不確定性與延誤。這往往會強化惰性，阻礙發展。

At home in Taiwan, TSMC is used to moving aggressively, gaining whatever resources, personnel and government approvals are required to propel its astonishing expansion. Yet in Phoenix, TSMC and its suppliers have wrestled with the intricacies of a different system.

在台灣本土，台積電慣於積極行動，獲取驚人擴張所需的資源、人員和政府許可。然而在菲尼克斯，台積電及其供應商卻不得不與另一種體制的種種複雜性作鬥爭。

They have been tripped up by a confusing process to gain permits. They have struggled to find workers with needed skills. They have contended with higher costs of doing business, succeeding through force of will and vast sums of money.

獲取相關批文的過程相當混亂，他們為此屢屢受挫。具備所需技能的工人也不好找。他們承受著更高的運營成本，憑藉意志力和巨額資金才得以撐下來。

Under pressure to build factories in the United States, TSMC has already completed one so-called fab — a plant now producing chips — while continuing construction of two more. It has outlined plans for three more factories at the Phoenix site, plus a pair of advanced packaging facilities. When these plans are completed, the company expects to make nearly one-third of its advanced chips in the United States.

在美國建廠的壓力下，台積電已經完成了一座所謂的晶圓廠——目前正在生產晶片——同時還在繼續建設另外兩座。該公司還規劃在菲尼克斯再建三座工廠，以及兩座先進封裝設施。當這些計劃全部完成時，該公司預計其近三分之一的高級晶片將在美國製造。

President Donald Trump has vowed to spur a revival in U.S. manufacturing as a centerpiece of his economic plans. He has leaned heavily on tariffs as the way to force companies to set up factories in the United States and hire American workers. He has effectively bet that the allure of making goods inside the world’s largest consumer marketplace would be enough to overcome other challenges.

川普總統誓言要重振美國製造業，並在他提出的經濟計劃中把這一點放在了核心位置。他大力依賴關稅，以此迫使企業在美國設廠、僱用美國工人。他實際上是在押註：在全球最大消費市場內部生產商品的吸引力，足以抵消其他挑戰。

But the simplicity of that prescription confronts the reality that the United States lacks workers with needed skills.

然而，這一看似簡單的方案卻面臨著這樣一個現實，即美國缺乏具備必要技能的勞工。

And in Taiwan, TSMC and its suppliers build facilities in dedicated industrial zones that generally require one permit from a central authority. In Arizona, they must negotiate municipal, county, state and federal regulations, requiring thousands of approvals.

而且在台灣，台積電及其供應商通常在專門的工業園區內建廠，通常只需從中央主管機構拿到一張許可即可。在亞利桑那州，他們必須與市、縣、州和聯邦各層級的法規打交道，需要獲得數以千計的審批。

“We ended up establishing 18,000 rules, which cost us $35 million,” said C.C. Wei, TSMC’s CEO and chair.

「我們最終制定了1.8萬條規則，這花費了我們3500萬美元，」台積電董事長暨總裁魏哲家說道。

Such laments stem from an extraordinary American success. Over decades, the United States has used regulation to reduce air and water pollution while enhancing workplace safety. Yet bureaucracies have grown around those rules, often in incoherent fashion.

這些抱怨源自美國一個非凡的成就：幾十年來，美國利用法規減少了空氣和水污染，同時提高了工作場所的安全性。然而，圍繞這些法規成長出來的官僚體系往往雜亂無章。

The presence of TSMC in Phoenix reflects a reassessment of geopolitical risks. No one at its headquarters in Taiwan stared at the globe and concluded that Phoenix was the most suitable place to make chips. Rather, the company responded to its customers.

台積電在菲尼克斯建廠，體現出各方對地緣政治風險的重新評估。在台積電總部的決策者並非盯著地球儀後得出結論，認為菲尼克斯是最適合製造晶片的地方。相反，該公司是在回應客戶的需求。

TSMC does not design chips. It makes them for businesses like Apple and Nvidia, the company at the center of explosive growth in artificial intelligence.

台積電並不設計晶片，它為蘋果、英偉達等企業代工生產晶片，英偉達正處於人工智能爆炸式增長的核心位置。

In recent years, TSMC’s customers have grown worried about its dependence on factories in Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. What if Beijing unleashes its military to seize control, disrupting the supply of chips? With such fears in mind, TSMC has begun constructing factories around the world, including in Germany and Japan.

近年來，台積電的客戶越來越擔心過度依賴台灣工廠——中國主張這個自治島嶼是其領土的一部分。如果北京動用武力奪取控制權，導致晶片供應受阻怎麼辦？出於這種擔憂，台積電已經開始在全球建廠，包括德國和日本。

One of TSMC’s largest customers urged the company to set up an advanced manufacturing plant in the United States.

台積電的一位主要客戶曾敦促它在美國建立一座先進制造工廠。

The Biden administration was intent on diminishing America’s reliance on faraway factories. It sought to attract computer chip manufacturers by earmarking more than $52 billion in subsidies via the CHIPS and Science Act. The funding included $6.6 billion for TSMC.

拜登政府決心減少美國對遙遠工廠的依賴。它試圖通過《晶片與科學法案》撥出超過520億美元的補貼來吸引計算機晶片製造商。這筆資金包括為台積電提供的66億美元。

The Arizona Commerce Authority, an economic development agency, courted the company, highlighting the state’s legacy as a center of semiconductor production. Motorola began making computer chips in the area in the mid-1950s. Intel opened a fab in Chandler in 1980.

亞利桑那州商務局是一家負責經濟發展的機構，它向台積電積極示好，強調該州作為半導體製造中心的歷史傳承。早在20世紀50年代中期，摩托羅拉就在當地開始生產電腦晶片；英特爾則在1980年於錢德勒市開設了一家晶圓廠。

Arizona State University promoted its industry expertise and aggressive expansion plans. Over the last 15 years, the ranks of its engineering students have grown to 33,000, from 6,000.

亞利桑那州立大學也大力宣傳自身的產業專長和積極擴張計劃。過去15年間，其工程專業學生人數已從6000人增長到3.3萬人。

But nothing gets built in Phoenix without reckoning with water. Shortages have prompted state and local authorities to limit development.

但在菲尼克斯，任何建設項目都繞不開水的問題。水資源短缺促使州和地方政府不得不限制開發。

Chip plants require enormous amounts of water. The first three TSMC factories were expected to need a collective 16.4 million gallons per day — about as much as consumed by 200,000 homes. TSMC says its expect to draw little of that from municipal supplies. The company is building a wastewater treatment plant that it says will eventually recycle nearly all of its water.

晶片工廠需要大量的水。台積電的前三座工廠預計每天總共需要1640萬加侖的水，這大致相當於20萬戶家庭的用水量。台積電錶示，預計這些用水幾乎不會來自市政供水系統。該公司正在建設一座廢水處理廠，稱未來水幾乎可實現全部循環利用。

By the spring of 2024, TSMC had committed to build three factories in Phoenix, while investing $65 billion. Then Trump returned to office, gaining the company’s commitment to more than double its plans.

截至2024年春，台積電已承諾在菲尼克斯建造三座工廠，投資額達650億美元。隨後川普重返白宮，促使該公司承諾將其計劃規模擴大一倍以上。

Making computer chips is an industrial magic trick. Billions of microscopic transistors are crammed onto slivers of silicon using a process something like the creation of a photographic negative. Machinery casts beams of light so slender that a human hair may be 5,000 times as thick.

製造電腦晶片是一種工業魔術。數十億個微觀晶體管被塞到薄薄的硅片上，其工序有點像製作照相底片。機器發射的光束細到令人難以想像，一根人類的頭髮可能比它粗5000倍。

But installing that equipment, and getting it to work properly, requires people with specialized training and experience. Two years ago, TSMC acknowledged that it was having trouble finding local people who knew how to do it. The company brought in more than 500 experienced workers from Taiwan.

但安裝這些設備並使其正常運行，需要具備專業訓練和經驗的人員。兩年前，台積電承認難以找到掌握相關技術的本地人才。為此，公司從台灣引進了500多名經驗豐富的工人。

Local unions accused TSMC of breaching the spirit and rules of its federal subsidies. They urged immigration authorities to block visas for the Taiwanese workers.

當地工會指責台積電違反了聯邦補貼的精神和規定，並敦促移民當局拒絕為這些台灣工人發放簽證。

The company resolved the conflict by committing to show preference to American workers. But labor disputes have continued.

台積電通過承諾優先考慮美國工人解決了這一衝突。但勞資糾紛仍在持續。

A lawsuit brought by 28 former and current TSMC employees at facilities in Arizona and California accuses the company of relying on Taiwanese senior managers who sideline American workers by conducting business in Chinese while denigrating local hires.

一樁由28名亞利桑那州和加利福尼亞州台積電前任及現任員工提起的訴訟指控公司依賴台灣籍高層管理人員，這些管理人員以中文處理業務、排擠美國員工，同時貶低本地僱員。

The lawsuit depicts dangerous conditions inside the fabs. It asserts that TSMC reflexively brings in workers from Taiwan rather than investing in training local people.

訴狀描繪了晶圓廠內部的危險狀況，並稱台積電習慣性地從台灣調人，而不是投資訓練本地員工。

TSMC declined to discuss the lawsuit. In a statement, the company said it “is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for our employees.”

台積電拒絕就該訴訟置評。公司在一份聲明中表示，它「致力於為員工提供一個安全、友好且包容的工作環境」。

Arizona authorities required that the company survey its site as well, to ensure that it was free of desert tortoises. The city of Phoenix demanded that TSMC identify and replant protected species of desert flora.

亞利桑那州的相關部門要求台積電對廠址進行勘察，以確保場地內沒有沙漠龜棲息。菲尼克斯城方面則要求台積電確認並移植受保護的沙漠植物物種。

When fire protection engineer David Amiri, 34, joined TSMC in June 2022, he assumed the company would value his knowledge of applicable safety codes. He had spent three-plus years as a Phoenix fire inspector.

34歲的消防保護工程師戴維·阿米裡於2022年6月入職台積電時，以為公司會重視他對相關安全規範的了解。他曾擔任菲尼克斯消防檢查員三年多時間。

The company had to expand the sprinkler system, he told his supervisors. This was a substantive issue of safety, he said. But the Taiwanese manager he approached dismissed his concerns, Amiri said.

他告訴主管，公司必須擴建自動噴水滅火系統。他表示，這是一個嚴重的安全問題。但阿米裡說，他找到的台灣籍經理沒有理會他的擔憂。

“They wanted to copy in the U.S. exactly how they do it in Taiwan,” he said. “They didn’t change a single bit of their design.”

「他們想在美國完全照搬他們在台灣的做法，」他說。「他們的設計一點都沒改。」

An inspector for TSMC’s insurance company later noted the defect and demanded that it be remedied, Amiri said, and the cost ran “six figures.” In June 2024, he quit in frustration.

阿米裡稱，台積電的保險公司的檢查員後來注意到了這一缺陷並要求整改，其成本高達「六位數」。2024年6月，他沮喪地辭職了。

Amkor Technology, a chip packaging company, was a missing piece to the whole puzzle. Advanced packaging takes freshly manufactured chips and fits them together for use in devices like consumer electronics.

晶片封裝公司安靠科技是整個拼圖中缺失的一塊。先進封裝技術負責將新製造出的晶片組裝在一起，以便用於消費電子等設備。

In late 2023, Amkor announced plans to build a $2 billion plant in Peoria, a city just west of the TSMC complex. The Peoria City Council approved a development agreement with Amkor in February 2024. The plant was to be built in the middle of 320 acres slated for housing, restaurants and office space.

2023年底，安靠宣布計劃在皮奧裡亞（位於台積電園區西側的城市）投資20億美元建廠。皮奧裡亞市議會在2024年2月批准了安靠的開發協議。該工廠計劃建在一塊約130公頃的土地中央，而該地塊原計劃用於建設住宅、餐廳和辦公空間。

Residents cried foul. How was a factory compatible with the surroundings? City officials offered assurances. The tallest building would be no higher than 54 feet, they said.

居民對此表示強烈反對。工廠怎麼能和周圍環境相容？市政官員予以安撫。他們表示，最高的建築不會超過16米。

Yet by January, the planned factory had doubled in height, while expanding across more than four times the initial square footage.

然而到了今年一月，這座規劃中的工廠高度增加了一倍，佔地面積也擴大到最初的四倍多。

Amkor was under pressure to add capacity to accommodate TSMC’s growing demand for AI chips. Its investment had swelled to $7 billion.

安靠科技正面臨增加產能的壓力，以滿足台積電對人工智慧晶片日益增長的需求。其投資額已激增至70億美元。

Residents of the community jammed Peoria City Council meetings, demanding a halt to the factory and threatening legal action. Publicly, the city held firm.

社區居民擠滿了皮奧裡亞市議會的會議廳，要求停止工廠建設，並威脅採取法律行動。在公開場合，市政府態度堅決。

Jason Beck, the Peoria mayor, pursued a deal behind the scenes by which the city bought a larger, more remote parcel via a state land auction. The company recently broke ground at the new site.

皮奧裡亞市長傑森·貝克在幕後推動了一項交易：市政府通過一次州土地拍賣，購買了一塊面積更大、位置更偏遠的土地。該公司最近已在新址破土動工。

“Sometimes, things get ugly,” Beck said.

「有時候，事情難免會變得棘手，」貝克說道。