Japan will provide up to $21bn for two semiconductor factories in New York under a joint ownership model that gives GlobalFoundries responsibility for construction and operations.
Japan is set to provide up to $21 billion for two semiconductor factories in Malta, New York, in a deal that would place the plants under joint U.S. and Japanese ownership and leave GlobalFoundries in charge of operations, according to Reuters and AP. The arrangement adds another layer to Washington and Tokyo’s wider industrial pact, under which Japan has committed $550 billion of investment in the United States in return for lower tariffs on Japanese cars and other imports. GlobalFoundries said the U.S. will take an equity stake in the new facilities, while Japan will supply the capital.
The project is intended to deepen U.S. chipmaking capacity at a time when demand remains elevated for semiconductors used in artificial intelligence, data centres and broader computing infrastructure. AP reported that roughly $10 billion would be used to accelerate construction of the first fab, which is due to open by 2029, with another $10 billion earmarked for a second plant. The company also said the plants are expected to serve a mix of customers, with Japan’s Renesas Electronics and Apple among the early names cited by GlobalFoundries chief executive Tim Breen.
The structure is unusual because a foreign government is providing the funding while an American foundry runs the facilities and earns fees from construction, operations and technology licensing. Reuters reported that the U.S. government will also take a 4 per cent stake in GlobalFoundries itself, lifting its total holding to about 7 per cent under a separate agreement. Breen said the company would manage customer relationships and would give priority to U.S. and Japanese buyers, while other customers could follow after the allocation process is finalised.
The deal may also feed back into the wider semiconductor supply chain, including equipment makers in Japan. Reuters reported that Breen expects at least part of Japan’s capital to flow towards tool suppliers such as Tokyo Electron, reflecting the country’s strong position in chip manufacturing equipment. TechTarget also reported that a separate $955 million reallocation of federal support would speed investment in silicon photonics, silicon-germanium and advanced packaging, technologies that are becoming more important for high-speed data movement and AI infrastructure.
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