US Grants TSMC Export License for China Fabs
Are the U.S.'s semiconductor controls leveling the playing field for American companies, or weaponizing trade to the detriment of all?
Above: The TSMC headquarters in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan, on Jan. 9, 2023. Image credit: Mike Kai Chen/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Revoking the VEUs was essential in furthering American technological dominance, closing a loophole that allowed foreign manufacturers to export U.S. technology license-free to China. Requiring an export license strikes a more appropriate balance, allowing companies to maintain their pre-existing Chinese operations while protecting U.S. competitiveness.
Pro-China narrative
The Trump administration's semiconductor export controls are a selfish protectionist impulse that threatens to destabilize a global supply chain decades in the making, to the detriment of all its participants. China, therefore, will implement the measures necessary to protect its legitimate business interests against any such wrongdoing.