Taiwan’s solar energy sector has seen its business in Europe pick up since the EU earlier this month launched an anti-dumping investigation into Chinese exporters, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report.
Amid fears over possible anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese solar energy products, European buyers are expected to transfer their orders from Chinese firms to suppliers in other countries such as Taiwan, TrendForce said.
Taiwanese firms may receive more orders in the fourth quarter of this year and in the first quarter of next year, but the market outlook for next year’s second quarter and beyond will depend on global demand, the EU initial ruling and Chinese firms’ business strategies, the report said.
The EU said it is scheduled to complete the investigation and issue a preliminary ruling on the anti-dumping case in nine months. The EU is expected to announce a final decision within six months of the initial ruling.
In reaction to the EU’s move, some Chinese importers have come up with measures such as lowering costs and planning to set up production bases in other countries, according to the report.
Some Chinese firms are considering Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and the Americas as possible destinations for investment relocation, but Taiwan is not on their list of preferences, TrendForce said.
In May, the US imposed temporary anti-dumping tariffs of between 31 percent and 250 percent on Chinese solar cell imports in an initial ruling. The final ruling is expected in two months.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last