Integrated circuits on a circuit board. The semiconductor industry was in focus during the trade war between America and China.
filonmar | E + | Getty Images
The United States thanked Taiwan on Friday for its assistance in resolving a shortage of automatic chips that had slowed production, but there was no discussion about the priority of making these chips, Taiwan’s Economy Minister said. Wang Mei-hua, after a high-level meeting said.
Car factories around the world are closing assembly lines due to the scarcity of chips, which in some cases has been exacerbated by the former US government’s action against Chinese chip factories.
Taiwan, home to technology companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest manufacturer of contract chips, has become at the forefront of resolving the shortage.
“The US side thanked us for their help in this,” Wang told reporters of the meeting, which she said was attended by senior executives of companies including TSMC and Qualcomm.
But she said the focus of the talks was not on automatic slides, and the question of whether to prioritize their production is not discussed.
Wang said TSMC also discussed its planned $ 12 billion new plant in the US state of Arizona, although she did not give details.
TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment at the meeting.
The shortage of cars has an effect on Volkswagen, Ford Motor, Subaru, Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, Fiat Chrysler and other car manufacturers.
The closed door, along with the Taiwanese minister and what she described as ‘very high US officials’, is the first announced high-level change 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 US ambassador to Taiwan, Brent Christensen, did attend and saw him get into the car after the meeting was over.
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the United States is Taiwan’s most important international aid and arms supplier.