June 16 – Taiwan is stepping deeper into the U.S.-China tech standoff, tightening its grip on advanced chip exports by adding Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMICY, Financial) to its export control list.
The move targets China's ambitions in artificial intelligence, requiring Taiwanese firms to secure special licenses before supplying cutting-edge chip tech, materials, or equipment to the two companies, or their subsidiaries worldwide, including units in Japan, Germany, and Russia.
Listed under Taiwan's “Strategic High-Tech Commodities Entity List,” Huawei and SMIC now face added roadblocks to building competitive AI capabilities. The restrictions are seen as a direct effort to slow China's semiconductor push, especially as the U.S. continues to cite national security risks tied to military tech applications.
The timing follows fresh U.S. curbs on Nvidia's (NVDA, Financial) export-friendly H20 AI chips, which are now barred from Chinese sales. That pressure may ironically play to Nvidia's advantage by sidelining key Chinese challengers.
As the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM, Financial) also remains under scrutiny, having already faced U.S. bans on supplying Chinese entities since 2020. The chip war is escalating, and Taiwan is picking a side.
