The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday.
Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year.
“As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective economic and national security,” Schmidt said.
Photo: Bloomberg
“In implementing the CHIPS and Science Act, the Department of Commerce is engaged extensively with key partners and allies, including authorities in the Republic of Korea [South Korea], Japan and Taiwan, as well as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, the European Union, and the United States Trade and Technology Council and North American Leaders’ Summit,” he said.
While the office did not disclose any details about Schmidt’s trip, a senior official from the department, who asked not to be identified, said the delegation would include Sam Marullo, senior policy adviser to the office, and Frances Chang, who supervises international exchanges in the office.
Asked whether the delegation would meet Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) executives, the unnamed official said only that the department would release details at an appropriate time.
“We intend to make this a really important part of our discussions with [South] Korea, Japan and Taiwan,” the official said.
According to the CHIPS Act, the US government is to inject US$52.7 billion into the US semiconductor industry to shore up its manufacturing, and research and development strength.
Funding would include US$39 billion in subsidies for companies that build new facilities and expand production capacity in the US.
The department is reportedly planning to take applications in late June from companies eyeing the subsidies.
The department also announced the so-called National Security Guardrails, which are to ban recipients of US government subsidies from investing in most semiconductor manufacturing in foreign adversary countries — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — for 10 years after the date of being awarded funding.
The measures also aim to limit funding recipients from engaging in joint research or technology licensing efforts with any of the four countries to develop a technology or product that raises national security concerns, it said.
TSMC is building fabs in Arizona that are to make chips using the 4-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes, with mass production scheduled to begin next year and in 2026.
The unnamed department official declined to comment on whether TSMC is seeking subsidies from the US government.
Hsinchu-based GlobalWafers Co has also begun construction of a 12-inch silicon wafer plant in Texas, with the aim of beginning mass production next year.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by