Tue, Apr 15, 2025 page9

• Taiwan to face high tariffs amid US domestic supply chain push: analyst

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  Taiwan and other Asian countries could face steep US tariffs on electronics and semiconductors, as Washington seeks to pressure regional manufacturers into investing in the US and build its own domestic supply chains, market research firm Digitimes Inc (大椽股份) said yesterday.

  As part of its broader strategy to boost its domestic manufacturing, the US is expected to use tariffs as leverage to bring Asian countries — including Taiwan — to the negotiating table and encourage their electronics suppliers to establish operations in the US, Digitimes vice president Eric Huang (黃逸平) said in a statement.

  Washington’s focus extends beyond semiconductor makers in Taiwan and across Asia — including Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations with electronics hubs — to the broader electronics supply chain, particularly key components such as flat panels, Huang said.

  

  US and Chinese flags painted over fists are pictured in an undated illustration photograph.

  Photo: Bloomberg

  Taiwan must prepare for potential US tariffs down the road, Huang said.

  “We need to have semiconductors, we need to have chips and we need to have flat panels ... we need to have these things made in America. We can’t be reliant on Southeast Asia for all of the things that operate for us,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told ABC News’ This Week coanchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.

  In addition, US President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform said that his administration would launch a national security tariff investigation focused on semiconductors and the broader electronics supply chain.

  “We will not be held hostage by other countries, especially hostile trading nations like China,” he said.

  Under growing pressure from Washington, the global electronics market is likely to fragment into three major blocs: the US, China and a third market comprising countries outside both, Huang said.

  Amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, electronics suppliers are expected to shift production either to the US or to countries with relatively low tariff exposure, while China would focus on developing its own electronic devices to serve the domestic market, he said.

  In addition, as electronics makers ramp up investments in the US, they are likely to accelerate expansion in Mexico as well, drawn by tariff-free incentives under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, he added.

  In contrast, China is likely to continue encouraging technology suppliers to localize production within its borders, especially as it faces high tariffs and export controls from the US, he said, adding that foreign firms hoping to access the Chinese market would likely need to source components and carry out assembly domestically, he added.

  China is expected to step up efforts to develop its own semiconductor ecosystem — particularly in artificial intelligence, electric vehicle applications and high-bandwidth memory chips — as part of a broader push to “de-Americanize” its supply chain and circumvent US restrictions, Huang said.

  Conversely, the US would pursue its own strategy of desinicization to reduce reliance on Chinese technologies, he said.
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