Top Taiwanese officials yesterday moved to ease concern about the potential fallout of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, making a case that the technology restrictions promised by the former US president against China would outweigh the risks to the island.
The prospect of Trump’s victory in this week’s election is a worry for Taipei given the Republican nominee in the past cast doubt over the US commitment to defend it from Beijing. But other policies championed by Trump toward China hold some appeal for Taiwan.
National Development Council Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) described the proposed technology curbs as potentially having “more pros than cons” for Taiwan. Such restrictions are likely to prompt more Taiwanese companies to shift production back from China and redirect export orders to local manufacturers, he said.
Photo: Reuters
When asked by a lawmaker yesterday about Taiwan’s preparations for the US election results, Liu said that while the island might also face a 10 percent tariff on its goods, “the impact would be limited, as most suppliers in Taiwan are primarily doing contract manufacturing serving the US clients.”
A Trump victory could make a bigger difference for Taiwan than a win by US Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Liu, though he said Taiwan is prepared for various outcomes.
Responding to lawmaker questioning, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said he expected Harris would likely continue the Democratic Party’s policies on Taiwan.
Kuo acknowledged that Trump could introduce measures that might prove harmful for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. But Taiwan “will have strategies in place to respond, and the impact will not be as severe as some anticipate,” he said.
China claims the self-governing democracy is its territory, and has threatened to seize the island by force if needed. US President Joe Biden has repeatedly vowed to defend Taiwan in the event of an “unprecedented attack.”
In an interview with CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” Harris hewed closer to the traditional US policy of “strategic ambiguity” while saying it’s important to help Taiwan defend itself.
Trump has been less supportive, telling Bloomberg Businessweek earlier this year that Taiwan stole the US’s chip business. He also called for the island to pay more for defense and noted the challenges of defending it from Beijing. “Taiwan is 9,500 miles away,” Trump said. “It’s 68 miles away from China.”
In a subsequent interview with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait last month, Trump didn’t answer directly when asked if American troops would defend Taiwan if China invaded.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS