US President Joe Biden on Wednesday ordered a review of US supply chains, seeking to end the country’s reliance on China and other adversaries for crucial goods.
However, the process could take months, offering no immediate solution for a shortfall of semiconductors that has idled vehicle production at several US factories.
The Biden administration’s 100-day review is to cover chips, but also large-capacity batteries, pharmaceuticals and strategic materials, such as rare earth elements, a White House statement said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Although Biden did not specifically mention Taiwan on this occasion, the US last month appealed to Taiwan to help with the semiconductor shortages.
Media outlets such as Japan-based Nikkei Asia have also reported that Washington is expected to pursue partnerships with Taiwan, Japan and South Korea in chip production.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) has reiterated that Taiwan is a reliable economic partner of the US.
“When it comes to the semiconductor industry, information and communications technology products, and biotech, the US and Taiwan have a track record of working closely together,” Wang said. “We are undeniably trustworthy partners.”
The signing of a memorandum of understanding regarding Taiwan-US economic prosperity would deepen bilateral ties, Wang added.
As a long-term and reliable partner of the US, the government would continue to work with Biden’s administration to deepen Taiwan-US global partnership and trade ties, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said yesterday in a statement.
A US-Taiwan alliance in the semiconductor field would be good news for Taiwanese firms, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院).
Biden’s review is not aimed at China or any other specific country, but instead focuses on diversifying supply more generally, said White House officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Still, an overreliance on China and other adversaries for critical goods is a key risk that must be addressed, they said.
Biden met with US lawmakers at the White House to discuss the semiconductor shortage and ways to bolster supply chains.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that he is asking the chamber’s top lawmakers to draw up legislation aimed at improving US competitiveness with China in manufacturing and technology, including bolstering the supply of US-made semiconductors.
The US semiconductor industry has been pushing Biden to include tax breaks and other financial incentives in his next legislative package to spur investment and research in the US — an effort that would take months to move through the US Congress.
Biden’s order would also direct industry-specific reviews focused on defense, public health and biological preparedness, as well as information and communications technology, transportation, and energy and food production, the White House said.
Those assessments, to be completed within one year, would be modeled after reviews that the US Department of Defense uses to regularly evaluate the US defense industry.
Additional reporting by Angelica Oung, Lin Chia-nan and CNA
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS