President Donald Trump announced a major U.S.-Japan semiconductor manufacturing agreement that will fund two new GlobalFoundries-operated facilities in upstate New York, creating an estimated 28,000 jobs and expanding domestic chip production.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, October 14, that semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries will operate two new chip fabrication plants in Malta, New York, under a U.S.-Japan investment agreement providing up to $21 billion in funding.
The agreement is expected to create approximately 27,000 construction and related supply-chain jobs, along with more than 1,000 highly skilled manufacturing positions, as the administration seeks to expand American semiconductor production and reduce dependence on overseas suppliers.
“ANOTHER MASSIVE 21 BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT FOR AMERICA!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Today, under my leadership, GlobalFoundries and my Department of Commerce led by Secretary Howard Lutnick announced a MASSIVE 21 BILLION INVESTMENT to build 2 giant new Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities in Malta, New York,” the president continued.
According to GlobalFoundries’ official announcement, Japan will supply the investment capital while the company provides the manufacturing technology, expertise and operational management.
An initial investment of approximately $10 billion will accelerate construction of the first semiconductor fabrication plant, which is expected to begin production in 2029. An additional investment of roughly $10 billion would finance a second facility.
Each plant is expected to provide approximately 900,000 additional 300-millimeter semiconductor wafers of annual manufacturing capacity when fully operational.
The investment is part of a broader U.S.-Japan trade agreement involving $550 billion in Japanese investment commitments to American industries.
“Under my direction, JAPAN WILL PROVIDE THE CAPITAL for the 21 Billion Dollar Investment,” Trump wrote, crediting his administration’s trade negotiations with securing the financing.
The president also highlighted similar investment arrangements involving South Korea and Taiwan, arguing that international trade agreements are helping expand domestic manufacturing and employment.
GlobalFoundries already operates a major semiconductor manufacturing campus in Malta, making the location an established center of American chip production.
The new facilities will expand production of semiconductors used in automobiles, industrial equipment, communications networks and other technologies essential to modern infrastructure.
GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen described the agreement as an important step toward increasing domestic manufacturing capacity.
“This is a bold new initiative for semiconductor manufacturing, bringing together the United States and Japan with GF’s differentiated technology and decades of manufacturing expertise to accelerate trusted capacity in New York,” Breen said.
The agreement also includes a separate arrangement giving the U.S. government an additional equity interest in GlobalFoundries.
According to Reuters, the transaction will increase the government’s overall ownership stake in the company from approximately 3% to 7%.
Trump characterized the arrangement as part of his administration’s effort to secure financial returns for taxpayers from federal investments in strategically important industries.
“My Commerce Department will invest 955 Million Dollars in Silicon Photonics, Silicon Germanium, and Advanced Packaging,” Trump stated.
GlobalFoundries confirmed that the $955 million will come from a reallocation of previously awarded federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act rather than an entirely new appropriation.
The money will support investments in silicon photonics, silicon-germanium technologies and advanced semiconductor packaging at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Malta and Burlington, Vermont.
These technologies are increasingly important for data centers, communications infrastructure and artificial intelligence systems, where faster information processing and more efficient data transmission are becoming essential.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick praised the investment as evidence that the administration’s trade strategy can generate large-scale industrial projects.
“With Japan’s investment funding and GlobalFoundries’ partnership, two large semiconductor chip manufacturing facilities will be built in the U.S., creating thousands of high-paying jobs for American workers,” Lutnick said.
The announcement comes as Washington continues efforts to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing following decades of production growth in East Asia.
Taiwan, South Korea and China remain major semiconductor manufacturing centers, while the United States accounts for a considerably smaller share of global fabrication capacity.
Taiwan is particularly important to the production of advanced processors, including chips used in artificial intelligence systems and high-performance computing.
That geographic concentration has generated concerns about supply-chain vulnerabilities during geopolitical conflicts, trade disruptions and other international emergencies.
Expanding American semiconductor manufacturing has consequently become a priority across successive presidential administrations.
The Biden administration previously provided incentives for domestic semiconductor projects through the CHIPS and Science Act, while Trump has emphasized trade agreements, foreign investment commitments and federal equity arrangements.
Founded in 2009 through a partnership involving Advanced Micro Devices and the United Arab Emirates’ Mubadala investment company, GlobalFoundries has grown into a major contract semiconductor manufacturer serving customers worldwide.
Although legally incorporated in the Cayman Islands, the company maintains its headquarters in Malta, New York, and operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia.
The latest agreement is expected to strengthen the company’s American manufacturing footprint while expanding the domestic supply of chips used across critical industries.
Construction of the first new facility is expected to begin before the end of 2026, with initial production targeted for 2029. The second plant remains dependent on the additional investment outlined in the agreement.
If completed as planned, the two facilities would significantly increase semiconductor manufacturing capacity in upstate New York and deepen industrial cooperation between the United States and Japan.
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