The Taiwan Machine Tool and Accessory Builders’ Association (TMBA) yesterday said that it would continue to adhere to government sanctions against specific exports to Russia, but it did not directly address recent news reports that some of its members had been flouting the regulations.
In a statement, the TMBA said that since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the association has been keeping a close eye on the military conflict and has been reminding its members to stay in line with the export sanctions imposed by Taiwan and other countries.
Since April 2022, the government has been listing goods that are banned from export to Russia, primarily high-tech products.
Photo: CNA
The sanctions on the export of strategic high-tech commodities (SHTC), as they are called, are aimed at preventing their use by countries like Russia, Belarus, Iran and North Korea for military purposes, and at upholding Taiwan’s commitment to international cooperation, the government has said.
The original SHTC list included nuclear energy materials, electronic items, computers, telecommunications and information security products, sensors, lasers, navigation and avionics items, and maritime, aerospace and propulsion systems.
In January last year, the International Trade Administration (ITA) — the government agency that handles such matters — added 52 items to the SHTC list for Russia and Belarus, including chemical products and machine tools.
Citing an investigative report, the Taiwan-based news site The Reporter on Wednesday said that some Taiwanese machine tool suppliers had been taking advantage of the loopholes in export controls to sell sensitive products not only to Russia’s military, but also to its Lebedev Physical Institute and Budker Nuclear Physics Institute, which are on a banned list compiled by the US Department of Commerce.
The Chinese language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) on Tuesday reported that ITA officials had met with representatives of Taiwan’s machinery and machine tool exporters and their business associations earlier in the week, asking them to carefully investigate their clients to prevent breaches of the sanctions.
The TMBA yesterday said that it had asked its members to pay close attention to the sale and distribution of their products so that the goods do not indirectly end up in the sanctioned countries.
The TMBA added that it has advised its members to immediately stop supplying finished machine tool products and components to the sanctioned countries, regardless of whether the products are on the SHTC list.
That is a precaution to prevent the use of those products for unknown purposes, which could accidentally breach international export controls, the TMBA said.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI