Tensions between Taiwan, US and China challenge industry, says chipmaker

Rising Taiwan-China and US-China tensions have brought “more serious” challenges to the semiconductor industry, the president of Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the annual convention of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, TSMC President Mark Liu said, “The US-China trade conflict and escalating cross-strait tensions have brought more serious challenges to all industries, including semiconductor industry”.

In recent years, China’s government “has never stopped promoting its domestic semiconductor industry,” including chip design, manufacturing and packaging, he said.

The United States also passed its CHIPS Act to vigorously support the research, development and manufacture of local semiconductor chips, Liu said.

Liu said he hopes Taiwan’s industry, government and academia will develop “more concrete and constructive measures” on industrial policies related to innovation, research, education and talent retention “to maintain the most critical advantages of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.” ”.

He noted that this year the “industry value” of Taiwan’s chip sector is expected to have increased by a fifth compared to 2021, even with the impact of Sino-US trade friction and geopolitical problems.

While Liu didn’t directly mention it, the broad set of export controls announced by the United States this month, aimed at slowing China’s progress in making advanced chips, is expected to also affect Taiwanese manufacturers.

“No one will escape the impact,” Nicky Lu, president of Taiwanese chip design firm Etron Technology, told reporters ahead of the event.

Frank Huang, president of Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing, said the industry was caught in a difficult situation.

“We do business on both sides of the Strait. Therefore, we cannot listen to the United States and not do business with Mainland China,” Huang said. “The position of our industry is to maintain our competitiveness.”