1. The tariff is just beginning Trump intends to use economic rights law to restrict Chinese investment
Sina Technology News Beijing time March 28 afternoon news, According to reports, Trump government is considering the use of one of the existing laws related to the national emergency, the "International Emergency Economic Power Act" to limit China's investment in sensitive technology in the United States .
Earlier, President Trump had decided to impose tariffs on Chinese imports of up to 60 billion U.S. dollars in order to retaliate for the so-called Chinese theft of U.S. intellectual property.
Bloomberg quoted four people as saying that the Ministry of Finance is developing a plan to determine which areas of technology will prohibit the entry of Chinese capital. These areas include semiconductors and 5G wireless communications.
Trump said last week that the imposition of tariffs is only the beginning of trade sanctions. On Tuesday, the White House claimed that the president was negotiating with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Mark Long about how to solve China's 'unfair' economic and trade practices. Including knowledge product plagiarism.
Prior to this, Trump had used national security on the grounds that he had not used the law. In September of last year and on March 12th this year, Trump prevented the sale of Canyon Bridge Capital Partners to Lattice Semiconductor Corp. The acquisition of the company, and Singapore’s Broadcom’s acquisition of chip maker Qualcomm, because the two companies intending to acquire US companies are all related to companies from China.
In view of the fact that in the past 30 years, the President of the United States rarely intervenes in the sale of businesses, Trump's two consecutive interventions are rare.
2. Zhang Zhongmou, the official of the US Department of Commerce, the semiconductor industry deduces 3 plays
Ian Steff, deputy assistant secretary of the US Department of Commerce in charge of manufacturing, went to the chairman of the TSMC headquarters to meet with Zhang Zhongmou. The outside world has paid close attention to the two members. The semiconductor industry has devised three possible scripts, including the promotion of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to open an American factory, and more to the US IC design factory. Capacity support, and how TSMC sees US-China trade war.
Recently, the trade war between China and the United States has prolonged, and foreign media reported that China may reduce its purchases of Taiwan and South Korea semiconductors and expand its purchases to the United States. The outside world is concerned about whether Taiwan may be unwittingly wounded and the impact is even more related to the semiconductor industry, the lifeblood of Taiwan’s economy. The importance of Taiwan’s technology industry and the country’s GDP, Ian Steff’s meeting with Zhang Zhongmou, also made the market more associative.
Sun Weiwen, senior director of TSMC’s Corporate Information Division, pointed out yesterday that Zhang Zhongmou did meet with Ian Steff on the morning of the 26th to exchange some opinions. Due to the US-China trade war, Zhang Zhongmou gave Ian Steff an opinion. No details were available on the details. The outsiders have no way of knowing that the two met. The content of the conversation, however, was pointed out by senior officials in the semiconductor industry that the two were talking at this time. From the point of view, the topics were nothing more than the interaction, cooperation and related issues of the US-China trade war in the Taiwan Semiconductor industry.
The senior executive of the semiconductor industry stated that after U.S. President Trump took office, U.S. priority policies were continuously introduced. In addition to U.S. manufacturing, the U.S.-China trade war was also initiated in U.S. priority policies. In Taiwan, When the Hon Hai Group took office at Trump, it fully cooperated with the establishment of a factory in the United States. Under the premise of Hon Hai as a model, the industry believes that Ian Steff is likely to be in the talks and hopes to promote whether TSMC can be established in Hon Hai. Opportunity to become the second US-made index plant.
The industry believes that from the perspective of the United States, TSMC's major customers, including Apple, Qualcomm and other international-level companies are also US companies, and it is hoped that TSMC's 'Made in America' seems to be expected.
The second possible scenario is that it hopes that TSMC will give production support to IC design plants in the United States. At this stage, semiconductor technology has reached seven nanometers at this stage, and the technical threshold is high. It can be said that there is only Intel in the world, and there are strong competition among TSMC and Samsung. With the rapid growth of new applications such as artificial intelligence and automotive electronics in the future, there are very few wafers that can provide more than seven nanometers of high-end products. The semiconductor industry believes that the two may have conversations in the future and may also hope that TSMC will have high-end products in the future. Can more support the United States IC design plant.
The third possible scenario is the view of Zhang Zhongmou’s views on the future situation in the recent US-China trade war, and even the semiconductor industry. In the US-China trade war, how to make Taiwan’s semiconductors not be negatively affected, or in the US-China trade war How to maintain Taiwan Semiconductor's semiconductor products and friendly relations over the past decades.
3. TSMC Sees Sino-U.S. Trade War: Appropriate Solutions
In the global semiconductor supply chain, TSMC plays a key role in the development of the semiconductor industry in the United States and China. For the recent rise in the trade war between China and China, TSMC is not happy to see trade shocks and the two parties are developing harmoniously, which is beneficial to TSMC's positive development.
Ian Steff, deputy assistant secretary of the United States Department of Commerce in charge of manufacturing, came to Taiwan to meet with TSMC chairman Zhang Zhongmou. TSMC has confirmed that the two sides met and closed talks with Taiwanese semiconductor companies. According to the participants, Ian Steff repeatedly stressed that Taiwan Semiconductor The industry is an important ally of the United States and we look forward to strengthening the cooperation between the two parties.
Zhang Zhongmou earlier in the interpretation of the United States hope that companies invest in the United States, and to give tax incentives, stressed that TSMC itself is an important part of the global supply chain, due to TSMC's innovative technologies to help the US semiconductor industry flourish, TSMC is actually the United States semiconductor supply chain An important part.
Although TSMC has retained the most advanced manufacturing and manufacturing bases in Taiwan, it is also the most important ally of the semiconductor industry in the United States. The amount of TSMC’s purchases from American suppliers should be ranked annually, and it will attract more companies including Dow, DuPont and others. Taiwan investment, forming a strong cluster, will benefit both Taiwan and the United States.
The recent development of the semiconductor industry in China is also very much in need of assistance from TSMC. TSMC established the first 12-nanometer wafer fab in China for the first time in Nanjing, which is of strategic importance to China and not only benefits local IC design. The rapid development of the industry also reinforces China's development of the most advanced wafer foundry ecosystem in the semiconductor industry.
TSMC is located in the United States and China to develop an important position in the semiconductor industry. Both countries need TSMC to assist in the development of the semiconductor industry. There is a trade war between the United States and China. The impact on TSMC is actually limited, but TSMC is not happy about it. Economic Daily
4. Asus: Will consider to find US partners OEM
Asustek chairman Shi Chongyi said yesterday (28th) that from the point of view of manufacturing and supply chain, ASUS is more flexible than before. In fact, it can be manufactured in line with the United States. It also considers the local production partners of the United States.
Shi Chongxi said that the industry is changing rapidly and the new era of digital economy must undergo a great transformation, but technology will always play an important role. Since Asustek's integration of design thinking, in the process of pursuing top-level craftsmanship, it is even more necessary to provide consumers with less. The same experience, greater technical challenges.
Shi Chongxi revealed that Asustek will have a lot of 'strange moves' this year, including motherboards, eSports, AR/VR, etc. For the smart speaker market, he believes that voice has become an important user interface and is an area that Asustek attaches great importance to. The response to the trade war in the United States, he said, changes in the economic strategy of the United States and China, this is the change and challenge of the big environment, can not be avoided, Asus must respond to changes; but Asus has many strengths, to play advantages, with the world's layout, With proper response, sometimes 'crisis is the turning point'.
Shi Chongxi emphasized that ASUS is a brand company. From the point of view of manufacturing and supply chain, the layout that is more flexible than before and is manufactured all over the world does not necessarily have to be influenced by the mainland. Every place may consider it.
He pointed out that Asustek's existing products are manufactured in Southeast Asia. For example, Indonesia is always looking for excellent partners; the future trend is consumer-centered, the supply chain will not be long, and in the end, every place will be consumer-oriented. , The entire supply chain will link very quickly, consumers will change, the supply chain will change immediately, and it will include design, not only production. This is the trend. The United States is one of the major markets of Asus, and it is concerned about whether Asustek considers manufacturing in the United States. As for the product, Shi Chongxi said that ASUS is a brand company and 'in fact, it can cooperate with'. Asustek has already separated itself from its foundry, so it can use its strategy flexibly, and it will also consider its US production partners.
5. Foreign Media: Trump and France and Germany Leaders Telephone Coordinated Trade Stand with China
The information network reported on March 29 that foreign media said that the White House said that President Donald Trump talked with European leaders on the 27th to discuss how to deal with China's so-called 'unfair' trade practices.
According to AFP on March 27, currently Washington and the European Union are confronting each other because of Trump’s decision earlier this month to impose high tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
The White House said in a statement that Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel 'discussed the 'unfair' economic approach that China has taken to deal with China and the 'illegal acquisition of intellectual property rights'.
The statement said that the two sides also discussed 'the issue of creating a fair playing field on tariff issues'.
The White House said that Trump also talked about the 'next step' against China's so-called 'unfair trade behavior' in his conversation with French President Mark Long.
According to a statement, 'The two leaders also discussed trade practices between the United States and the European Union'.
The report said that Trump is working on a trade war with Beijing and Brussels at the same time. This month he proposed to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum, and will also impose tariffs on Chinese imports worth as much as US$60 billion.
According to reports, European and U.S. trade officials said that they are negotiating a compromise and the United States has temporarily waived 10% of European aluminum tariffs and 25% of steel tariffs.
However, if the compromise effort fails, Brussels has already identified a number of U.S. goods that may face heavy import duties - such as peanut butter and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
European officials said that U.S. tariffs did not solve the problem of industrial overcapacity and oversupply, and Washington attributed both issues to Beijing.
According to the report of the D-Shares on March 27th, US President Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the tariff issue on the 27th. Both leaders have proposed the idea of uniting against China’s trade policy and behavior.
A statement from the German government stated that Merkel urged the EU to engage in dialogue with the United States on trade policies and take into account the rules-based international trading system.
The report stated that Trump had previously confirmed that it imposes a series of tariffs on steel and aluminum, but many key allies, including most European countries, have received exemptions. However, China faces a 25% steel tariff and a 15% aluminum product tariff. .
In addition, because of the White House’s so-called “unfair” trade practice in China for a long time, Trump announced that it imposed tariffs on Chinese products worth at least US$60 billion.
In response, Beijing said on the 23rd that it is planning to impose tariffs on U.S. goods worth about 3 billion U.S. dollars, including pork and fruit.