WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The Trump administration

is considering taking equity stakes in companies getting funds

from the 2022 CHIPS Act but has no similar plans for bigger

firms boosting U.S. investments, such as TSMC and Micron, a

White House official told Reuters.

The official confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that the

administration does not intend to seek equity stakes in

semiconductor companies, such as Micron and TSMC

, that plan to step up investment.

On Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the

government continued to work on the possibility of taking a 10%

stake in troubled chipmaker Intel ( INTC ) and suggested it

would seek further stakes in other grant recipients.

"If we're going to give you the money, we want a piece of

the action for the American taxpayer," Lutnick told CNBC.

While the Biden administration had been giving "money for

free" to companies such as Intel ( INTC ) and TSMC, he added, "Donald

Trump turned it into saying, 'Hey, we want equity for the

money.'"

At a March event with President Donald Trump at the White

House, TSMC, which has Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Apple ( AAPL ) as key

clients, announced plans for the new $100-billion U.S.

investment, in addition to $65 billion committed for three

manufacturing facilities in the state of Arizona.

Micron boosted its U.s. investment plans in June.

TSMC executives have already had discussions about returning

their subsidies if the administration asks to become a

shareholder, the Wall Street Journal said.

The White House and TSMC declined to comment. Micron did not

immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees the $52.7-

billion CHIPS and Science Act, finalized subsidies of $6.6

billion late last year for TSMC to produce semiconductors in the

United States.

The commerce department did not immediately comment.

Besides Intel ( INTC ), Micron, TSMC and Samsung were

among the biggest recipients of CHIPS Act funding, but almost

all of it has yet to be disbursed.

Trump has previously said he wanted to kill the CHIPS Act

program.

In the past, the U.S. government has taken stakes in

companies during periods of economic uncertainty to provide

financial support and restore confidence.