The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it is to hand over seven local solar product makers for investigation by prosecutors, after the manufacturers allegedly threatened ministry officials when it was discovered they were mislabeling their products.
It is alleged that the solar makers had labeled goods manufactured in China as Taiwan-made prior to selling them on the European market.
“The seven manufacturers have violated the law,” Bureau of Foreign Trade Deputy Director-General David Hsu (徐大衛) told reporters during a telephone interview on Thursday night.
He declined to disclose the names of the manufacturers, as the cases are to be transferred to prosecutors soon.
Hsu said that in May the EU launched an anti-dumping investigation against Taiwanese and Malaysian solar cell and module manufacturers after Chinese exporters were accused of avoiding tariffs by shipping the solar products to the EU through Taiwan and Malaysia.
A number of solar manufacturers — including the seven firms — took advantage of Taiwan’s free-trade zones to help Chinese exporters evade tariff duties by selling solar products to EU nations, Hsu said.
“Not only do the accused have no regrets about what they have done, they have also allegedly lobbied, threatened and pressured ministry officials, trying to get away from this,” Hsu said.
He said the bureau in July fined the companies found to have been mislabeling solar products and in August announced a new export policy.
Under that policy, Taiwanese companies exporting solar products, bicycles or screws from the nation’s free-trade zones to the EU must acquire bureau approval, Hsu said.
As part of an anti-dumping investigation, Hsu said a delegation from the Directorate-General for Trade of the European Commission visited four Taiwanese solar product makers, the economics ministry and the Ministry of Finance from Oct. 1 to Thursday.
The government pledged its support to the delegation, saying it would inspect local solar manufacturers, he said.
The EU was the second-largest export destination for Taiwan’s solar cells and modules last year.
Taiwan’s solar cells and modules exports to Europe totaled NT$20.48 billion (US$623.44 million) last year, accounting for 11.13 percent of the annual production value of the nation’s solar industry, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (工研院) statistics.
Hsu said the EU is expected to complete the anti-dumping investigation on Feb. 29 and the economics ministry is to closely monitor any updates of the investigation to protect the nation’s interests.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported record revenue of NT$416.975 billion (US$13.17 billion) for last month, putting the world’s largest contract chipmaker on track to set a record for quarterly revenue. Last month’s figure surpassed March’s record NT$415.19 billion and represented increases of 1.5 percent from April and 30.1 percent from a year earlier. For the first five months of the year, TSMC generated NT$1.96 trillion in revenue, up 30 percent year-on-year, it said in a statement. TSMC has forecast second-quarter revenue of between US$39 billion and US$40.2 billion, representing sequential growth of about 10 percent and year-on-year growth of about
Infineon Technologies AG is preparing to open its largest single investment, a 5 billion euro (US$5.8 billion) semiconductor factory built with the help of EU subsidies, as the bloc seeks to boost chip production. The power chip fab, which is an extension of the German company’s Dresden campus, is scheduled to open on July 2, Infineon chief operating officer Alexander Gorski said this week at the site. The project is a major recipient of EU Chips Act funds, receiving about 1 billion euros in subsidies. The new plant represents a rare success for the bloc’s flagship semiconductor law, which was drawn up during
PATENT PROBE: US lawmakers called for a ban on imports of chips made by TSMC if they are found to infringe on US patents, with a preliminary ruling expected soon Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday expressed confidence in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) compliance with patent regulations after reports linked the company to a patent infringement lawsuit in the US. US Representative Ryan Zinke, and US senators Tim Sheehy, Roger Marshall and Bernie Moreno urged the US International Trade Commission in a May 22 letter to ban imports of chips made by TSMC if they are found to infringe on US patents, Axios reported on Wednesday. An administrative law judge is expected to issue a preliminary ruling this month, with the commission potentially making a final decision in
Taiwan remained the sixth-largest net creditor nation in the world last year, despite a fall of more than 10 percent in its net international investment position (NIIP) over the year, the central bank said yesterday. The NIIP is the difference between a country’s external financial assets and its external financial liabilities. Taiwan’s external financial assets hit US$3.27 trillion at the end of last year, up US$275.75 billion or 9.2 percent from a year earlier, the central bank said in its annual NIIP report. The growth largely reflected an increase in holdings of overseas marketable securities by residents in Taiwan, as well as a
RSS