Singapore’s State Investor to Invest Up to $30 Billion in the US

Singapore’s state-owned investment firm Temasek is planning to invest up to $30 billion over the next five years in the United States.

The main sectors Temasek will focus on in this investment are artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and data centers.

• Semiconductors are the foundation of modern technology.

• Data centers form the framework over which the digital economy functions.

• AI, meanwhile, has become central to all modern technologies, including semiconductors and data centers, due to its automation prowess.

Jane Atherton, Temasek’s head of North America, said:

“The Americas is going to be and continue to be the largest recipient of capital... The U.S. is really at the forefront of everything that's happening from the AI perspective."

Temasek has an investment portfolio of $288 billion, with a long-term focus on digitisation and sustainability. Its investment in Americas accounts for 22% ($63 billion), followed by China at 19% ($54 billion). The home country, Singapore, accounts for its largest market at 27% ($78 billion).

It's for the first time in a decade that the state investor’s investment in Americas exceeded that in China in a financial year. The investment firm said its profits in the U.S. and India helped offset the underwhelming gains in China recently.

Besides, the firm has refrained from investing in China’s geopolitically sensitive areas and focused on the country’s large domestic companies. The firm added that it’s taking a cautious approach to investing in China amid the global trade tensions.

U.S.-China Trade Competition

The U.S. and China are engaged in a severe global trade competition regarding semiconductor technology. We earlier reported that the U.S. government, led by President Joe Biden, is considering using the most severe trade restrictions regarding China if the dragon continues to gain business advantage thanks to its access to American-made semiconductor technology.

The Biden administration might even consider the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) to restrict China’s access to advanced semiconductor chips manufactured in the U.S., the report said. In fact, the White House increased tariffs on $18 billion of imports from China to the U.S. in May 2024. The tariff rate on semiconductors would increase from 25% to 50% by 2025, the press statement mentioned.

The trade conflict between the two countries has led to investment firms manoeuvring a rather tricky situation. Temasek is also navigating its investment geography amid the global trade tensions.