■TRADE
PRC buying group in Taipei
A delegation from China’s Sichuan Province is arriving today to attend a procurement meeting in Taipei tomorrow, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) officials said yesterday. The delegation, led by Sichuan communist party secretary Liu Qibao (劉奇葆), is expected to place orders for agricultural products, consumer products, electrical appliances, flat panels and machinery, TAITRA said in a press release. Officials from 56 Sichuan-based firms will accompany Liu, including Sichuan Changhong Group (四川長虹集團), Chengdu Construction Engineering Corp (成都建築工程集團), Sichuan Changzheng Machine Tool Group (四川長征機床集團), Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co (四川科倫藥業公司) and Sichuan Yadong Cement Co (四川亞東水泥有限公司).
■CHEMICALS
Sinochem buys Peregrino
Sinochem Group (中國中化), China’s biggest chemicals trader, agreed on Friday to pay US$3 billion to Statoil ASA for 40 percent of the Brazilian offshore Peregrino field. The companies also agreed to jointly seek more opportunities in Brazil and elsewhere, Statoil CEO Helge Lund said. “Both companies see many opportunities for value creation through increased recovery and exploration for additional resources in the decades to come.” Statoil, Norway’s largest oil and natural gas company, said last year it was considering cutting its stake in Peregrino to reduce risk and raise funds to develop other projects.
■INTERNET
Facebook to tighten security
Facebook Inc, owner of the world’s most popular social-networking site, plans to announce changes to privacy settings after users said they wanted simpler ways to manage what information is shared online. The company will introduce the changes “shortly,” it said in an e-mailed statement. The company has been grappling with concerns about privacy after it introduced tools last month that let users recommend products and Web sites to their friends.
■COMPUTERS
HP expands laptop recall
Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) is expanding a voluntary recall of laptops due to the risk of fire from overheating batteries, the company and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Friday. The commission said that since an initial recall in May last year, HP has received additional reports of overheated and ruptured batteries.
■AUTOMOBILES
Ford recalls cars in Brazil
US carmaker Ford on Friday issued a recall of Ka models sold in Brazil because of an electrical defect that posed a fire risk. The recall affected Ka cars made since 2008, Ford said in a statement. That amounted to 155,000 vehicles, according to the National Automobile Dealership Federation. There was a “possibility” of the electrical system coming into contact with the chassis, Ford said.
■BANKING
FDIC settles WaMu case
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) has approved a global settlement of the bankruptcy case involving Washington Mutual Inc (WaMu), one of the largest US banks to fail as a result of the financial crisis. “This agreement will result in substantial recoveries to the receiver and resolve potential claims that could have taken years and millions of dollars to litigate,” FDIC’s general counsel Michael Bradfield said on Friday. WaMu was closed by regulators who orchestrated its sale to JPMorgan Chase on Sept. 25.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
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