President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for unity and cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain to take on dumping by Chinese suppliers.
Speaking at a semiconductor forum organized by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院), Lai said the semiconductor sector continues to face problems caused by unfairly low prices from Chinese suppliers of materials needed in mature processes.
The Chinese government has used subsidies, among other measures, to allow suppliers to dump products on the global market, he said.
Photo: CNA
The global semiconductor industry now faces a similar problem, and if it fails to take action, the situation would worsen, he added.
“Countries should unite and cooperate as partners in the global semiconductor supply chain to ease the impact of dumping from China,” Lai said. “Otherwise, innovation cannot continue and industrial development would be affected.”
Taiwan ranks No. 1 in the global pure play foundry sector, accounting for 90 percent of total advanced chip sales, first in the integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services business, and third in the IC design business, he said.
The nation also continues to be part of the global supply chain, Lai said.
Other countries contribute to the global semiconductor industry in their own ways, such as the US, which is good at semiconductor materials, equipment and technology development, so Taiwan cannot be the only driver of the sector’s growth, he added.
“Cooperation in the global supply chain is very important in the push for the prosperity of the next generation,” Lai said. “Taiwan has the responsibility to act as a focal point in technology development in the artificial intelligence [AI] era.”
The government would work with the industrial sector in creating policies to improve legal mechanisms, and provide financial assistance and tax incentives to help the industry grow, he said.
Echoing Lai, ITRI senior vice president Stephen Su (蘇孟宗) said that the global semiconductor sector needs a larger talent pool, so Taiwan should cooperate with partners in cultivating the next generation of talent.
Taiwan should also work with partners to build a diversified semiconductor supply chain by creating forward-looking technologies and setting industrial standards, he said.
Japanese Representative to Taiwan Kazuyuki Katayama said that cooperation between Taiwan, Japan, the US and Europe should prevent interruptions in the semiconductor supply chain, which would in turn guarantee the world’s economic security.
Meanwhile, American Institute in Taiwan Deputy Director Jeremy Cornforth said the US values its partnership with Taiwan, and that he hoped the two sides would take advantage of technological developments to build a resilient supply chain.
Cornforth said he also hoped to reinforce the Taiwan-US partnership, which would allow Washington to maintain its competitive edge in semiconductor and AI development.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
RSS