TAIPEI: Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has called for deeper collaboration with the US and other democracies to strengthen semiconductor supply chains, following US President Donald Trump’s push to bring chip production back to America.
At a White House briefing on Thursday, Trump stressed Taiwan’s dominance in chip manufacturing, saying, “We want those companies to come to our country, with all due respect,” in a likely reference to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s top chipmaker and a key supplier to Apple and Nvidia.
Lai, in response, proposed a “democratic supply chain” for high-end semiconductor production, highlighting Taiwan’s leadership in manufacturing, the US in design and R&D, Japan in components, and the Netherlands in photolithography through ASML. He pledged ongoing engagement with Washington on semiconductor strategy.
Meanwhile, TSMC, which recently approved a US$17 billion expansion, including US operations, declined to comment on Trump’s remarks. -BERNAMA
