TSMC initially planned to break ground on its third fab — which will utilize 2-nanometer and A16 process technologies — later this year, but the company had been in discussions with the U.S. government to help speed up the permit approval process, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said on an April 17 earnings call.

TSMC obtained approval for an air permit, paving the way to begin construction of its third fab, a company spokesperson told the Business Journal.

In addition, TSMC gained approval earlier this month for reviews related to water, sewer and grading plans for its third fab site, according to city of Phoenix records.

“As part of our commitment to support the needs of America’s leading innovators in smartphones, HPC and AI, we recently broke ground on our third fab, which will introduce more advanced semiconductor capacity to the U.S.,” Wei said in a statement Tuesday. “We are grateful for the secretary’s commitment to supporting the advanced semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.”

In a CNBC interview filmed at TSMC’s Arizona fab site, Lutnick stated that onshoring semiconductor production is imperative for national security. He also touted the Trump Administration’s approach to bringing advanced manufacturing to the U.S.

“So a company commits to building in America, but it takes too long to get permits, to get regulations, to get everything done,” he said. “We’re going to move it forward, and what you saw today is [TSMC] needed a couple of permits. We got those permits super fast, and here we go. They’re building it.”