Taiwan’s entity list is to be updated following a review by a cross-ministerial committee in early April to ensure the list is in line with international export sanctions on Russia, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), which also promised more subsidies for the country’s machinery industry which has been negatively impacted by the restrictions.
The US recently announced its largest package of sanctions against Russia, totaling 500 individuals and entities. The European Union also issued its 13th sanctions package last week, which not only increases the number of sanctioned entities but also prohibits the export of key components for drones to Russia.
Taiwan’s entity list has so far banned 1,900 military-related Russian entities from receiving Taiwanese-made high-tech goods, according to the International Trade Administration.
Photo: CNA
A MOEA official said the ministry continues to reference the practices of allied countries and undertake rolling reviews of the entity list.
The recently expanded sanctions issued by the US and the EU target machine tools, automobiles and drone components, but the adjustment is expected to have little impact on Taiwanese manufacturers, the official said.
The official explained that Taiwan’s supply chain is only involved in some of the expanded targeted industries, adding that Taiwan has also been closely observing international sanctions.
Early this month, the ministry added 77 items to the list of machine tools restricted from being exported to Russia and Belarus, which is set to take effect on March 8.
The official acknowledged that the export restrictions have a negative impact on Taiwan’s manufacturers of machine tools, machinery and machine components, as Taiwan’s export to Russia fell 35.1 percent from 2021 to US$850 million in 2022 and to US$790 million last year. Exports to Russia last month totaled US $62.51 million, representing a further year-on-year decrease of 12.5 percent.
Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) chairman Larry Wei (魏燦文) on Tuesday said the restrictions on exporting machine tools to Russia and Belarus have benefited Chinese manufacturers, as exports of Chinese machine tools to Russia increased 60 percent last year, compared to a year earlier.
"This is giving away the market to China for free," Wei said, lamenting the losses caused by political factors and calling on the government to provide subsidies or other support measures.
Taiwan’s machinery industry has also been battered by other factors including the exchange rate of the New Taiwan dollar to the US dollar, the TAMI head said.
The Japanese yen has depreciated 12 percent recently against the greenback, making the NT dollar relatively strong and affecting the industry’s competitiveness in overseas markets, Wei said, hoping the rate will remain at NT$32 against the US dollar.
An official with the Industrial Development Administration (IDA) told CNA that the MOEA has earmarked NT$300 million for the machine tool industry to focus on high-value and de-carbonized operations.
About NT$200 million will introduce smart machinery, and another NT$100 million be used to develop domestically made high-value machine tool controllers and product category rules — which provide product category-specific guidance to assess the environmental impact of a product’s life cycle and conduct carbon footprint calculations, the IDA official said.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his