US-Japan cooperation could protect Taiwan '99%', defense investors told at Silicon Valley summit

The U.S.-Japan alliance is weaponizing semiconductor interdependence, forcing a tech-stack realignment driven by defense logic rather than market efficiency. A Taiwan contingency wouldn’t just halt sub-3nm output—it would sever critical upstream nodes like EUV photoresists, EDA licenses, and CoWoS packaging. Compliance is no longer about tariffs but mandatory 'friend-shoring,' inflating capex and eroding supply chain agility. China will likely double down on mature-node self-reliance, while Korea and the EU position themselves as neutral tech buffers. Over the next 12–24 months, global semiconductor investment will prioritize geopolitical resilience over ROI, with CHIPS Act and NEDO funds jointly funding redundant, less-efficient capacity. The era of pure economics in chipmaking is over; security now sets the price.