Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) needs government permission for any overseas joint ventures (JVs), but there are no restrictions on making the most advanced chips overseas other than for China, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday.
US media have said that TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, has been in talks for a stake in Intel Corp.
Neither company has confirmed the talks, but US President Donald Trump has accused Taiwan of taking away the US’ semiconductor business and said he wants the industry back in his country.
Photo: Liao Chia-ning, Taipei Times
Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Kuo said that “no one can shake the foundations” of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.
“We have to have confidence in TSMC, and the government will fully support the ‘sacred mountain protecting the country,’” he said, using an expression that refers both to the importance of the chip sector and TSMC to Taiwan’s economy.
The government will not interfere in TSMC’s decisions, Kuo said.
“For TSMC to go into the world and have a joint venture in any location, it definitely needs government permission,” he added.
Large overseas investments need to be approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Taiwan does not allow its companies to produce the most advanced chips in China.
Kuo said there is no change to these rules, but permission must still be first obtained from the government for such production in countries other than China.
TSMC is in the process of investing US$65 billion in new factories in the US state of Arizona, with the government giving permission for what is currently the most advanced 2-nanometer chips to be made there, but not for a couple of years.
Taiwan, which runs a large trade surplus with the US, could also be subject to wide-ranging import tariffs Trump has threatened to impose to deal with trade imbalances.
Kuo said the ministry was collecting information for government negotiators to talk to the Trump administration on the tariffs issue to seek the best conditions for Taiwanese companies, but he declined to comment on the contents of the talks.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS