News / Boost for US forwarders with Nvidia plan to move hi-tech production 'stateside'

Nvidia

News that Nvidia is to bring manufacturing of its AI infrastructure ‘stateside’ is a “significant development” for US forwarders and carriers, according to stakeholders.  

Yesterday, Nvidia announced its intention to produce AI ‘supercomputers’ entirely in the US, building on its previous announcement that production for its Blackwell semiconductor chips had started at TSMC plants in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Nvidia is building computer manufacturing plants in Texas – with Foxconn in Houston and with Wistron in Dallas – and production at both plants is expected to ramp up in the next 12-15 months, it said.  

Brandon Fried, executive director of the Air Forwarders Association, told The Loadstar forwarders specialising in high-value, high-security, and time-sensitive cargo would “absolutely be in a position to benefit”. 

He added: “The AI supercomputing and semiconductor sectors are increasingly important verticals for US forwarders. These shipments often require specialised handling, regulatory coordination, and expedited delivery, all areas where forwarders bring immense value.” 

And he noted that as manufacturing ramped up in Arizona and Texas, there would likely be a corresponding shift in air cargo volumes, “with more domestic uplift and potentially reduced Asia–US inbound freight for this vertical”.  

Indeed, a spokesperson for United Airlines told The Loadstar that, with its “extensive domestic network”, including hubs in Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Washington, and Newark, it was “well positioned to maintain a competitive edge in the air cargo sector”. 

It had, added the carrier, “leveraged its network” to accommodate high-demand sectors, such as hi-tech, pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, “by adjusting flight schedules and offering a suite of specialty products for highly sensitive and time-critical precision goods”. 

However, Mr Fried highlighted that as the global semiconductor supply chain was still so deeply interconnected, international lanes wouldn’t disappear — “they’ll just evolve”. 

He explained that the onshoring effort was likely to continue as US tech companies sought more security in their supply chains, prompted by geopolitical risk and tariff uncertainty. The CHIPS Act has also been a large incentive for US manufacturing. 

“It’s an exciting time for forwarders that are ready to adapt and serve the next generation of US-based manufacturing,” he concluded. 

Nvidia said it planned to produce up to half a trillion dollars’ worth of AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years, through partnerships with TSMC, Foxconn, Wistron, Amkor and SPIL. 

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s founder and CEO, said: “Adding American manufacturing helps us better meet the growing demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthens our supply chain and boosts our resiliency.” 

Jason Miller, supply chain professor at Michigan University, believed the move by Nvidia made “great sense, from a manufacturing strategy standpoint”, and “economically” to build high-end computer products for the US market, “where selling margins are high”. 

But he added: “Do we stop tariffing all the inputs needed to make those high-end products Nvidia wants to have made here?” 

On Friday, the White House said it was excluding electronics, such as phones, laptops, and semi-conductors, from its 125% tariffs on Chinese goods – but it was “taking a look at semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain in the upcoming national security tariff investigations”. 

The timeline for this “investigation” is not clear and a tariff rate may be announced in the coming week, according to Reuters.  

Electronics listed by the White House for new tariffs include computers and parts, apparatus used for making semi-conductor parts and devices, smartphones, flat-panel displays, and solar cells.