The “chip conflict” is expected to intensify in the US during the Trump era
With Republican candidate Donald Trump winning the elections in the USA and coming to power again, the moves the USA will make in the field of technology began to be discussed again by the leading media organizations in the world. After taking over, Trump is expected to impose tariffs on chips coming from Taiwan, which he accuses of stealing the US chip industry.
During Trump’s first term, the US-China trade war, which started in March 2018 when the US increased the customs duties on solar panels and aluminum imported from China in order to close the foreign trade deficit, was soon followed by China’s important technology investments. After the restrictions imposed on Huawei, one of the giants, it almost evolved into a technology war.
Trump banned sending equipment for advanced chip production to China
The technology product conflict that started with Huawei continued with the chip restrictions implemented during Trump’s first term. During his first term as president, Trump restricted US companies from sending equipment to China for advanced chip production and imposed bans on many Chinese companies.
The conflicts between the two countries, especially regarding chips, continued during the term of US President Joe Biden. The “Chip and Science Act” passed by the US Congress called for incentives to encourage domestic chip production.
The law signed by Biden in 2022 provides $52 billion in direct funding to support the semiconductor industry.
Following the enactment of the law, also known as the Chip Law, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of the world’s largest and most advanced semiconductor manufacturers from Taiwan, announced that it would open a chip production center in Arizona with $7 billion in funding expected to receive from the US Department of Commerce.
TSMC, of which Nvidia and Apple are also customers, produces 90 percent of the chips.
On the other hand, most of chip production takes place in East Asia. Taiwan, South Korea and Japan stand out in chip production. However, the largest producer of gallium and germanium, which are used in the production of the chip and have strategic importance, stands out as China.
China produces about 60 percent of the world’s germanium, according to the European industry association Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA).
According to the news in CNBC, 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips are produced by Taiwan’s TSMC. The company’s customers include US companies such as Nvidia and Apple.
“Taiwan is stealing our American chip industry”
With Trump coming to power again, the steps he will take regarding the chip issue are again a matter of curiosity. Trump, who was a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast program in October, accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry.
Trump also criticized the US Chip Law and said that if he was elected president, he would impose customs duties on chips coming from Taiwan. “This chip deal is so bad that we’re giving billions of dollars to rich companies to build chip factories here, but they still won’t give us these good companies,” Trump said in the program. He used the expression.
What do you think?