A full half of the jobs created by the first TSMC Arizona chip plant have been filled by workers from Taiwan, despite the company receiving up to $11.6B worth of grants intended in large part to generate US jobs.The original headline news of Apple chips being made in the US by American workers has seemed less and less impressive over time Backgrounder on TSMCs Arizona chip plantsTSMCs announcement that it was building a chip fabrication plant in Arizona was hailed as a major success for the US CHIPS Act intended to free the US from dependence on China for advanced chip supplies, and to generate jobs for US workers.Apple proudly announcedthat it would be buying American-made chips for some of its devices.The gloss soon began to wear off, however. The first plant will only be able to make larger process chips, only suitable for older Apple devices, and it wasnt long beforeTSMC demanded bigger subsidiesand fewer rules.The project fellbehind schedule, and over budget, with production alreadypushed into 2025, from 2024. There istalk of US-made chips costing morethan those made in Taiwan, which could mean Apple would buy fewer of them than originally expected.There were claims thatthe first plant would be a paperweight, as output would need to be sent back to Taiwan for whats known as the packaging process of encapsulating different circuit boards into a single chip. Apple later announced thatit would commission another US-based facilityto package the chips.Most recently, a further delay was announced for 2nm chip production, as a lawsuit accused the company of anti-American discrimination.Half the workers are from TaiwanTSMC originally said that the prevalence of Taiwanese hires was simply a temporary measure during the construction phase. However, this claim was questioned as the situation remained unchanged last year.US job creation was first thrown into doubt when TSMC decided tobring in around 500 Taiwanese workersto speed up construction work.The battle over thisquicklyturned ugly.But while this was described as a short-term measure, used only for the construction phase, a new report today paints a different picture. TheFinancial Timessays that with almost half the production workforce already recruited, around 50% of them are actually from Taiwan.A New York Times report says its still the case at the end of 2024, with the same claim still being made today, just a few months before production is scheduled to start.About half of the approximately 2,200 employees have been brought in from Taiwan. Some other Taiwanese workers have come to Arizona on temporary contracts for constructing the factories. The company expects the proportion of American workers to increase as it builds out its plants []TSMC said its first factory in Phoenix was expected to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025.Photo:Bravo PrinceonUnsplash.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel