The CHIP 4 alert system, which includes the US, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, will help ensure the supply of semiconductors for cars and is expected to monitor raw materials for chip production and production equipment
An alliance of countries led by the US, which includes Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, will establish an early warning system to prevent disruptions in the supply of technological hardware components that have become the highlight of the technology war between the US and China.
This week the alert system among the countries partnering in the CHIP 4 project established in September 2022 will help ensure the supply of semiconductor chips for cars and monitor the inventory of chip-making raw materials and production equipment, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economy said Monday.
There are more than 100 different materials from many sources, said Sean Su, an independent technology analyst in Taiwan. “It’s very complicated and very global.”
Many of the world’s largest US-based technology companies depend on Taiwan and South Korea for chips. Japan is primarily a supplier of chip manufacturing raw materials for the global industry.
The new development comes amid the deepening trade war between China and the United States. The two countries are in a 2018 battle as both seek control of semiconductors and other types of technology that power the modern economy.
An early warning system is unlikely to include or affect mainland China, said James Chin, a professor of Asian studies at the University of Tasmania in Australia. “The Chinese believe very much in their ecosystem,” he said. However, shutdowns in several Chinese cities last year showed the vulnerability of this system, as chip production slowed.
Taiwanese manufacturers sell about 60% of the semiconductor chips in the world. At the beginning of the pandemic, when consumers went on a shopping spree for computers and phones for remote work and home study and this created a shortage of chips for these devices. Now the demand for chips is led by the automotive industry.