US tells Taiwan room exists for further progress on chip supplies
Tightness in semiconductor supplies over the past two years have in some cases caused auto and consumer appliance production lines to shut down, and the United States has repeatedly urged Taiwan, as a major chip producer, to do more
An engineer holds a chip in the middle of testing reactions from different materials and shapes that can have on the chip at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) in Hsinchu. Image: Ann Wang/ Reuters
TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States is grateful for Taiwan's efforts to resolve a global shortage of semiconductors and further improvements can be made to speed up supply chains, the top U.S. diplomat in Taipei said on Friday.
Tightness in semiconductor supplies over the past two years have in some cases caused auto and consumer appliance production lines to shut down, and the United States has repeatedly urged Taiwan, as a major chip producer, to do more.
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Sandra Oudkirk, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, told an industry forum the COVID-19 pandemic has both increased demand and "stressed" the world's trading system.
"While Taiwan's semiconductor companies continue to churn out chips at an increasingly fast pace, logistical challenges have stymied efforts to keep up. We've all learned about the long supply chains stretching from the fab to the showroom. We have made improvements, but room exists for further progress," she said, in a transcript provided by her office.
Oudkirk pointed to U.S. Department of Commerce data that over the last two years the median chip inventory in the United States has fallen from 40 days to fewer than five.
