Reliance on China has never been riskier for Taiwan’s semiconductor sector. Industry giants like TSMC are now investing to increase production capacity in the U.S. as means of threading the needle on the American tech dispute with China. China has long exerted a gravitational pull on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. The China market’s size, proximity, and…
The U.S.-China trade dispute has brought significant changes in markets and industries around the world, and at first it appeared that Taiwan would suffer a severe negative effect. In the early months of the dispute, the imposition of heavy tariffs and other trade barriers began impacting Taiwanese companies whose manufacturing processes take place mainly in…
Taiwan has been a major beneficiary of global circumstances in 2020. It must now take steps to maintain economic momentum as a new year approaches. Despite a devastating pandemic that the International Monetary Fund predicts will shrink the world economy by 4.4% this year, Taiwan proved itself to be a global economic star. It was one…
Taiwan and the U.S. are seeking build alternatives to production of critical equipment in China in the wake of the global pandemic. First came the U.S.-China “trade war,” with Washington encouraging American companies to leave China and bring manufacturing back home. Then COVID-19 struck, halting the flow of medical equipment and other goods and laying…
The semiconductor industry’s concentration at home provides it with some insulation from the direct effects of the U.S.-China trade war. Taiwan’s crucial semiconductor industry is set to grow 5% in 2020 on the back of rising demand for artificial intelligence applications and 5G telecommunications infrastructure. Overall industry output value is expected to reach NT$2.8 trillion…
Next year, Taiwan’s economy will benefit from a steady flow of capital repatriation as local manufacturers move capacity home from China. Momentum from Taiwanese businesses returning from China should help Taiwan reach a GDP growth rate of 2.3% to 2.6% in 2020, compared to about 2.4% this year, economists say. In addition, growth in trade…
Oil Prices Are Up And So Are Exports Fuel prices have been rising in Taiwan in recent months, a result of fluctuations in global crude prices brought on by tensions in the Middle East. The latest hikes are tied to the drone strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities that took place in mid-September. Gasoline prices in…
I’ve attended many conferences this year. I’ve heard a lot of speeches. One of the most interesting and hard-hitting so far was a talk recently given by Charlene Barshefsky, the top trade negotiator for the U.S. from 1997 to 2001. She spoke last month at AmCham Hong Kong’s annual China Conference, which should be a…
Taiwan made headlines this August for a Q2 growth rate of 2.41%, propelling it well ahead of the other three Asian Tigers for the first half. This increase is at least partially attributable to the reshoring of a number of Taiwanese businesses from China, encouraged by government incentives and the ongoing trade war between China…
Tech firms are repatriating from tariff-hit China, boosting the local economy. But can Taiwan secure a long-term position in global supply chains? For years, it was a foregone conclusion that Taiwan’s tech hardware sector would concentrate production in China. Starting in the 1990s, local contract electronics manufacturers began moving capacity across the Taiwan Strait. They…
