TRADE
US vows to support Australia
The US is “closely monitoring” trade tensions between Australia and China, and will support Canberra in addressing Beijing’s state-led, non-market practices, US Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai (戴琪) told Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan on Wednesday. The two ministers agreed to continue working to develop a digital trade policy that addresses the needs of workers and recognizes “the importance of collaboration among those with open, free, democratic systems,” USTR said in a statement following the meeting. Trade tensions between Australia and China, already rocky after Canberra banned Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為) from its 5G wireless network in 2018, worsened since Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, which was first reported in China last year.
INDONESIA
Central bank keeps rates
Bank Indonesia yesterday left its benchmark rate unchanged, and lowered its growth outlook for the year, as one of the most severe COVID-19 outbreaks in the world puts the economy’s recovery at risk. The central bank kept the seven-day reverse repurchase rate at 3.5 percent, as all 29 analysts in a Bloomberg survey predicted. It has held its policy rate steady since February and recently signaled that it might not make any rate moves until at least next year. “This decision is in line with the need to maintain exchange rate stability and financial system stability due to uncertainty in global financial markets, amid low inflation forecasts and efforts to support economic growth,” Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo said at a briefing in Jakarta. The bank expects the economy to grow 3.5 to 4.3 percent this year, down from earlier expectations of growth of 4.1 to 5.1 percent, due to tighter virus curbs.
SEMICONDUCTORS
ASML forecasts sales boom
ASML, the world-leading manufacturer of machines to produce top-of-the-line semiconductors, on Wednesday said that sales were set to jump by more than one-third this year amid strong global demand for computer chips. The Netherlands-based firm reported that its second-quarter net sales came in at 4 billion euros (US$4.7 billion), which was an increase of one-fifth from the March-June period last year. While that was nearly an 8 percent slide from the first quarter, the company said it expects sales to pick up this month through September to between 5.2 billion and 5.4 billion euros. ASML said demand is high for all of its products as it booked nearly 8.3 billion euros in net new orders in the second quarter. That is more than the total in 2018 and nearly three-quarters of last year’s total.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Clubhouse opens to all
The Clubhouse audio chat forum on Wednesday opened its virtual rooms to all comers, ending an invitation-only mode that was a coveted ticket during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clubhouse did away with its waiting list, saying anyone could join using smartphones powered by Apple Inc or Google-backed Android software. “We’re thrilled to share that Clubhouse is now out of beta, open to everyone, and ready to begin its next chapter,” founders Paul Davison and Rohan Seth said in a blog post. Since making its debut a year ago, Clubhouse has grown to hosting half a million “rooms” daily, with the average listener spending more than an hour a day in the online community, Davison and Seth said.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process