US President Joe Biden signing the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act would have little bearing on individual countries’ advantages in the semiconductor industry, experts said at a forum yesterday.
Biden last month signed into law the act that includes about US$52 billion in funding to boost the US’ domestic semiconductor research and development.
The Legislative Yuan’s Digital Information and Governance Innovation Association, and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Shih-fang’s (劉世芳) office yesterday held a forum discussing the act’s effects on Taiwanese industry as well as geopolitics.
The semiconductor industry is a sector with a global division of labor: Taiwan specializes in manufacturing, and packaging and testing, the US focuses on design, and South Korea excels at computer memory units, said Chi Chao-yin (紀昭吟), deputy director of the Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center at the Industrial Technology Research Institute.
Ninety percent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) production takes place in Taiwan and it plans to set up new wafer fabs in Taiwan, the US and Japan, she said.
Expanding its manufacturing plants abroad can help TSMC further consolidate its highly competitive position, and promote cooperation between semiconductor industries in Taiwan and the US, Chi said.
The act stipulates that businesses sponsored by the US government cannot invest in China or other countries that are unfriendly to the US for 10 years, with the exception of manufacturing legacy semiconductors, 28-nanometer or larger chips, she said, adding that the act would only have a limited effect.
The US lacks the labor force to manufacture the number of wafers planned in the act, so it might recruit 3,500 high-tech workers from abroad, which means some of Taiwan’s semiconductor talent might move to the US, Chi said.
Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research economist Roy Lee (李淳) said that the US aims to reshuffle the semiconductor supply chain by focusing on economic security and strategic autonomy, winning the strategic competition with China and maintaining the leading position in technologies and relevant regulations.
The US hopes to reduce its reliance on China and imports, and overcome its weakness in manufacturing as well as research and development, he said.
Taiwan’s semiconductor industry mainly provides original equipment manufacturing services and is in line with the interests of the US, which has a competitive relationship with South Korea, he said.
Taiwan should let the US accept that “Taiwan’s strengths are the US’ strengths, so empowering Taiwan is empowering the US,” he added.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said: “Taiwan should highlight its absolute advantages at the moment” as the world is reliant on Taiwan, but added that the nation has to be cautious and humble.
He likened the semiconductor industry to a Formula One race: Taiwan is an excellent driver, but the race cars are from the US and the chemical materials are from Japan, adding that without trust between these allies, Taiwan would be unable to maintain productivity.
Taiwan should nurture more talent and tighten security regulations on technology to maintain its position as one of the world leaders in the semiconductor industry, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS