Taiwan has placed China’s tech giants Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) on its export control list, requiring Taiwanese firms to obtain government approval before exporting any products to these companies.
The additions were part of a recent update to the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ trade administration strategic high-tech commodities entity list, announced on June 10. Alongside Huawei and SMIC, the update included 601 entities from countries such as Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Myanmar, and China, including groups like the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Taiwan’s trade administration stated the review and update were driven by “prevention of arms proliferation and other national security considerations.” It urged manufacturers to comply with export control regulations, fulfill verification obligations, and carefully assess transaction risks.
Taiwan is home to TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a key supplier to AI leader Nvidia. Both Huawei and SMIC are pivotal to China’s ambitions in chips and artificial intelligence and have been striving to close the technology gap.
Taiwan already enforces strict chip export controls on Taiwanese companies that manufacture domestically or supply Chinese firms, reflecting ongoing tensions between Taipei and Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its territory.
Huawei is also subject to U.S. export restrictions barring access to American and foreign-made goods involving U.S. technology, including chips manufactured by TSMC. Last year, TSMC was ordered by the U.S. Commerce Department to halt shipments of certain chips to Chinese customers, including Huawei and Sophgo, a Chinese chip designer linked to Huawei’s AI processor.
Taiwan’s government has repeatedly pledged to combat Chinese efforts to steal technology and attract Taiwanese chip talent, emphasizing the strategic importance of the semiconductor sector.
SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, continues to invest heavily to expand capacity amid U.S. export curbs, aiming to boost China’s domestic semiconductor capabilities.