It's just that they end up working in a startup creating yet another project management tool because of the way capital is allocated in the US and how high salaries are in certain areas.

No country will ever be competent at everything; the US doesn't need fabs. The best for the US in this situation is to figure out how they can outsource this to cheaper countries that are democratic and not possibly the victims of an invasion soon.

In Asia itself (for the distance factor to Taiwan or TSMC headquarters), there are plenty of booming countries economies that, despite having a slightly higher cost (due to supply chain dynamics) than Taiwan, have a more stable foreign policy and good legal framework.