nanometer is a marketing term now and doesn’t reflect actual sizes. Samsung were first with “3nm”.
And iPhones chose TSMC’s 3nm, because TSMC is more than just 3nm, but also at a scale and price-point that Apple desires.
America was doing “3nm” in 2018
I’m talking about industry and manufacturing. Test labs doing one or two wafers back in 2018 doesn’t matter compared to the millions-of-chips that roll off of Taiwan’s production facilities.
No one in the USA can mass produce designs like this. Korea / Samsung is 2nd best, but still is slower at mass production than Taiwan.