The Trump administration is hoping to preserve Intel’s domestic semiconductor manufacturing by brokering a deal for the chipmaker to sell a majority stake in its factories to its top rival, Bloomberg reported Friday.

Reports were percolating all last week that the Trump administration has floated various ideas for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to undertake some kind of partnership with Intel.

The deal described by Bloomberg would have TSMC buy a majority stake in Intel’s factory business, with some U.S. chip designers buying smaller parts of the business. TSMC is at least entertaining the suggestion, Bloomberg reported, citing a single anonymous source.

Intel’s stock climbed about 20% following similar reports earlier last week, and comments from Vice President JD Vance that the Trump administration wants to ensure that companies continue making advanced computer chips in the United States.

Neither Intel nor TSMC commented on the reports and Intel’s stock sank about 3% Friday, reflecting market skepticism about a potential transaction.

Investment analysts noted this week that any deal that gave TSMC a major stake in Intel would be very complex and might not benefit either company.

“We don’t know why TSMC would want to license their process tech and (intellectual property) … to a leading edge competitor, unless the terms are very favorable,” Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote in a note to clients Friday, ahead of the Bloomberg report.

The United States has financial and political leverage that could, possibly, compel a deal.

Intel finalized a deal for $7.9 billion in federal subsidies last November following months of negotiations with the Biden administration. The company hasn’t received most of that funding yet, and the Trump administration could seek to stall or block further payments if Intel resisted its plan.

Alternately, the administration could offer more financial assistance to complete a deal. And it could use the threat of tariffs on computer chips made in Taiwan to encourage TSMC to play along.

Intel is already separating its manufacturing arm from the part of the business that designs new computer chips — possibly into two standalone companies. The chipmaker is trying to recover from a severe technology deficit that left it trailing TSMC and other competitors.

If TSMC were to take over Intel’s factory business, that could have serious implications in Oregon. Intel is the state’s largest corporate employer and it engineers each new generation of manufacturing process technology at a research factory in Hillsboro.

Should TSMC take over Intel’s factories, it might prefer to continue doing its most advanced work in Taiwan rather than conduct a parallel process in Oregon.

That might undermine the Trump administration’s goal of bolstering the domestic chip industry by leaving the United States without any advanced process development work.