Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chipmaker for Apple Inc and Huawei Technologies Co (華為), has recruited rival Intel Corp’s former top lobbyist Peter Cleveland to spearhead an unprecedented effort in Washington to mitigate the effect of US-Chinese trade tensions.
The world’s biggest contract chipmaker joins a growing number of companies with Chinese business interests that are stepping up US lobbying, aiming to gauge and lessen the fallout from Washington’s ongoing dispute with Beijing.
TSMC said in July that it was considering starting government relations operations in the US.
Cleveland, who headed Intel’s lobbying effort for more than a decade, updated his LinkedIn profile this month to reflect new responsibilities including representing TSMC on policy, legislative and regulatory matters.
There has been speculation that US sanctions could affect TSMC’s shipments to Huawei, but the Taiwanese chipmaker has publicly quashed talk of US pressure for it to stop supplying its No. 2 customer, which Washington blacklisted and views as a national security threat.
“Peter Cleveland is helping TSMC enhance communications with stakeholders, including government officials at a global level,” TSMC spokeswoman Nina Kao (高孟華) said by telephone.
While there have previously been TSMC staffers tasked with similar responsibilities, Cleveland’s arrival coalesces the effort under one independent position, Kao said.
Huawei is TSMC’s largest customer after Apple, contributing about 10 percent of its revenue, Bloomberg supply chain data showed.
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