The Taiwanese government believes there is much room for cooperation with the European Union on semiconductors. The response comes after the bloc announced plans to boost its chip industry and reduce dependence on Asian and US suppliers.
The bloc’s plan mentions Taiwan, home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker TSMC and other chip industry leaders, as one of the “like-minded partners” it would like to collaborate with.
Unveiled on Tuesday, the plan calls for the European Commission to ease funding rules for innovative semiconductor makers amid a global chip shortage and supply chain crunch that has disrupted many industries.
Room for growth post-pandemic
In a statement, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said that it was pleased by the robust momentum in bilateral trade and investment between Taiwan and the bloc. The ministry also welcomed the EU attaching that much importance to the island.
Taiwan believes that the post-pandemic era presents the room needed for cooperation in restructuring the global supply chains, economic recovery, and stronger democratic resilience.
According to the ministry’s statement, the island intends to build friendly relations with the EU to strengthen the partnership. Last month, TSMC said it was in the very early stages of assessing a potential fabrication plant in Europe.
Taiwan’s Europe ambitions
Though TSMC did not comment on the European chip legislation, it is spending $12 billion building chip factories in the United States.
The Taiwanese EU ambitions may have taken a slight hit when Taiwan GlobalWafers failed this month to take over German chip supplier Siltronic.
Currently, neither the EU as a collective nor its member states have started diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, leaving it in the murky swamp of superpower politics. However, the bloc has shown support for the island, especially after the Trump-era trade and human rights disputes soured ties.
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