Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan Economics Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the 2nd on a proposed Trade Act amendment that would expand controls on certain semiconductor exports to mainland China. Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers introduced the measure, which would require government approval for specified integrated circuits, materials, parts and wafer-production equipment. Violations could carry prison terms of up to 10 years and fines of up to 10 million Taiwan dollars.
What it means
The proposed rules would cover shipments routed through third countries and later resold to mainland China. Taiwan is also considering controls on advanced artificial-intelligence chips and servers, beyond its current restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Chung Chia-pin said the existing rules apply to 12 categories of equipment used in semiconductor wafer production. In August, eight people connected to corporations including Supermicro were indicted in a case involving alleged exports of 74 servers equipped with Nvidia advanced AI semiconductors to China.
Key facts
- The Legislative Yuan Economics Committee will hold a public hearing on the amendment on the 2nd.
- Violations could bring a maximum 10-year prison term.
- The maximum fine would be 10 million Taiwan dollars.
- Taiwan’s current controls cover 12 categories of semiconductor wafer-manufacturing equipment.
- Eight people were indicted in August in the server-export case.
- The case involved alleged exports of 74 servers equipped with Nvidia advanced AI semiconductors to China.
Source: Chosunbiz, reporting on Taiwan’s proposed Trade Act amendment