Integrated circuits on a printed circuit board. The semiconductor industry was at the center of the US-China trade war.
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The United States thanked Taiwan on Friday for help overcoming an automatic chip shortage that has throttled production, but there was no discussion of prioritizing making these chips, Taiwan’s Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua said after a high-level meeting.
Car factories around the world are shutting down assembly lines due to chip shortages, exacerbated in some cases by the former US government’s actions against Chinese chip factories.
Taiwan, home to technology companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest chip maker, has become the focus of efforts to resolve the shortage.
“The US thanked us for helping us do this,” Wang told reporters of the meeting she said was attended by senior executives from companies like TSMC and Qualcomm.
But she said the focus of the talks was not on car chips, and the question of whether to prioritize their production was not raised.
Wang said TSMC also discussed the planned $ 12 billion new plant in Arizona, US, although she did not provide details.
TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the meeting.
The automotive chip shortage affects Volkswagen, Ford Motor, Subaru, Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, Fiat Chrysler and other car manufacturers.
The closed-door event, accompanied by the Taiwanese minister and what she described as “very senior US officials,” is the first announced high-level exchange between Taiwan and the Biden government, which took office on January 20.
The State Department said last week that Deputy Assistant Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiations Matt Murray would participate.
The de facto US Ambassador to Taiwan, Brent Christensen, was in attendance and was seen getting into his car after the meeting was over.
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the United States is China’s claimed most important international financier and arms supplier.