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.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS