The US Department of Commerce on Tuesday said that a global survey of semiconductor chip producers and users shows a shortage will persist, sparked primarily by wafer production capacity constraints.
The voluntary survey of 150 companies last fall in the supply chain confirmed “there is a significant, persistent mismatch in supply and demand for chips, and respondents did not see the problem going away in the next six months.”
US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told reporters that the department “in a few instances didn’t really get what we needed and we’re going to go company by company and do personal engagement and get what we need.”
Photo: AP
Raimondo said in November that she had spoken to “all of the CEOs in the supply chain — including Samsung, TSMC [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, 台積電], SK — and all of the CEOs have pledged to me that they will be submitting robust and complete data flows to us.”
Some companies in Asia and governments had earlier expressed concern about the data request.
Raimondo reiterated that the department could invoke its legal authority to get responses.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs, responding to the survey, reiterated that Taiwanese companies are working hard to produce chips and coordinating with “important international business partners” to strengthen supply chains.
The US could compel foreign semiconductor firms with US operations to answer detailed questions about the chips market.
Raimondo on Tuesday declined to say who did or did not comply.
The department also said it was sharing its findings with foreign governments.
It said it had seen some unusually high prices among some chips used by automakers and medical device manufacturers.
The department said that it would “engage industry on node-specific problem solving in the coming weeks. We will also look into claims about unusually high prices in these nodes.”
“Demand for chips is high. It is getting higher,” Raimondo said, adding that demand is now about 20 percent above 2019 levels.
“There is not a lot of good news” in this survey, she said.
Raimondo said the survey did not show evidence of hoarding.
The department said median inventory for consumers for key chips has fallen from 40 days in 2019 to less than five days last year.
“Five days of inventory. No room for error,” Raimondo said. “That tells you how fragile this supply chain is.”
US President Joe Biden has been pressing the US Congress to approve more funds to boost chip production in the US as shortages of the key components used in autos and computers have exacerbated supply chain bottlenecks.
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday unveiled its legislation to bolster US research and development to better compete with China, and aid the domestic semiconductor industry, in a bid to negotiate a final bill this year with the US Senate.
“Major components of this package have already passed the House with overwhelmingly bipartisan votes, and we look forward to conferencing this bill with the Senate to get legislation to the president’s desk as soon as possible,” US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
The bill is a priority for Biden’s administration, particularly the nearly US$52 billion in grants and incentives for the semiconductor industry amid a global chip shortage.
The House bill includes the same US$52 billion in emergency appropriations to help the semiconductor industry that the Senate bill incorporated as part of the CHIPS for America Act.
In addition, it also authorizes US$45 billion for grants and loans to support supply chain resilience and manufacturing of critical goods in the US.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
On Ireland’s blustery western seaboard, researchers are gleefully flying giant kites — not for fun, but in the hope of generating renewable electricity and sparking a “revolution” in wind energy. “We use a kite to capture the wind and a generator at the bottom of it that captures the power,” said Padraic Doherty of Kitepower, the Dutch firm behind the venture. At its test site in operation since September 2023 near the small town of Bangor Erris, the team transports the vast 60-square-meter kite from a hangar across the lunar-like bogland to a generator. The kite is then attached by a
Foxconn Technology Co (鴻準精密), a metal casing supplier owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday announced plans to invest US$1 billion in the US over the next decade as part of its business transformation strategy. The Apple Inc supplier said in a statement that its board approved the investment on Thursday, as part of a transformation strategy focused on precision mold development, smart manufacturing, robotics and advanced automation. The strategy would have a strong emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), the company added. The company said it aims to build a flexible, intelligent production ecosystem to boost competitiveness and sustainability. Foxconn
Leading Taiwanese bicycle brands Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) and Merida Industry Co (美利達工業) on Sunday said that they have adopted measures to mitigate the impact of the tariff policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. The US announced at the beginning of this month that it would impose a 20 percent tariff on imported goods made in Taiwan, effective on Thursday last week. The tariff would be added to other pre-existing most-favored-nation duties and industry-specific trade remedy levy, which would bring the overall tariff on Taiwan-made bicycles to between 25.5 percent and 31 percent. However, Giant did not seem too perturbed by the
TARIFF CONCERNS: Semiconductor suppliers are tempering expectations for the traditionally strong third quarter, citing US tariff uncertainty and a stronger NT dollar Several Taiwanese semiconductor suppliers are taking a cautious view of the third quarter — typically a peak season for the industry — citing uncertainty over US tariffs and the stronger New Taiwan dollar. Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) said that customers accelerated orders in the first half of the year to avoid potential tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump’s administration. As a result, it anticipates weaker-than-usual peak-season demand in the third quarter. The US tariff plan, announced on April 2, initially proposed a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese goods. Its implementation was postponed by 90 days to July 9, then
RSS