Tue, Aug 05, 2025 page9

• Top firms eye US, despite tariffs

  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

  • By Meryl Kao / Staff reporter
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  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.

  

  A person walks past a kiosk of Micro-Star International Co laptops at a computer market in Taipei on Friday.

  Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP

  The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further negotiations, said the official, who declined to be named.

  The Ministry of Economic Affairs on Tuesday last week approved Wistron’s US$455 million investment through subsidiary Wistron Infocomm (USA) Corp to build facilities in Texas, with mass production scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year, the official said.

  Capacity at its Mexico facilities — primarily used for servers, networking and automotive products — remains unchanged following Trump’s 90-day extension of tariffs for the country, Wistron said.

  Inventec, which last week also received regulatory approval for a US$85 million investment in a new server facility in the US, said its production and shipping plans would not be affected by the latest tariff announcement.

  Mass production at its Texas plant — used to assemble high-end artificial intelligence (AI) servers — is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year, an Inventec official said.

  Although the sectoral tariffs on information and communications technology products remains unclear, any potential levies would be fully borne by customers, and no adjustments have been requested, the official said.

  The company’s production plans at its Mexico plant — which mainly assembles servers, notebook computers and motherboards — would remain unchanged, as it continues to leverage benefits under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, they said.

  Server production capacity in Mexico accounts for 35 percent of Inventec’s total server output.

  Quanta runs two facilities in the US — one in Fremont, California, and another in La Vergne, Tennessee — as well as a plant in Mexico, with future server shipments depending on customer preferences for production sites, a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

  The company also has operations in Taiwan, Thailand and Europe.

  Quanta on Thursday announced a NT$67.24 million investment in its US subsidiary, Quanta Manufacturing Nashville LLC, to upgrade facilities to expand AI server production, and is likely to continue expansion in the state and Mexico to meet customer demand, the source said.

  While situations vary, tariff costs are likely to be borne by customers, the source said.

  Compal said the tariffs’ impact on its global operations would be limited, as the final rate for its main product — notebook computers — remains pending the outcome of an investigation under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

  Compal operates plants in Indiana and Mexico, both primarily producing automotive electronic components.

  It has expanded its presence in North America and increased production lines there, with specific product categories to be announced once tariff rates are finalized, a Compal official said.

  “As our discussions with customers are ongoing, we will respond accordingly once a concrete policy is in place,” the official said.
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