The recent United States ban on the export of certain advanced AI chips to China is unlikely to have a big impact on Taiwan. That’s according to Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花), speaking during an interview before her appearance at the legislature's economics committee on Thursday.
While acknowledging the need for control over exports to China, Wang pointed out that Taiwan primarily serves as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), tailoring its shipments to meet customers' needs. She also added that the current high demand for AI chips and servers already surpasses supply, so the ban should have a limited effect on Taiwan’s economy.
On October 18, the U.S. introduced a ban on chip exports to China, initially with a 30-day buffer period. However, the strong demand for AI chips in the Chinese market, with prices doubling, prompted the U.S. to forgo the 30-day buffer and implement the ban sooner. This will impact the sales of tech giant Nvidia’s A800 and H800 AI chips and the newly launched L40S processor designed specifically to comply with previous export bans for the Chinese market.