Taiwan to Curb AI Chip Exports to China

Taiwan is getting ready to tighten its rules on who can send powerful AI chips to China. The island's Minister of Economic Affairs, Kung Ming-hsin, announced the plan to add AI servers and advanced chips to a list of controlled items. Once the new rules are in place, shipping those chips to China without permission will be treated as a crime under Taiwan's Foreign Trade Act. The move is meant to protect Taiwan's technology and national security, and to work more closely with the United States.

Right now, Taiwan does not treat unauthorised AI chip exports to China as a crime. Officials can warn sellers that they might be breaking US rules, but the only way to punish smugglers through Taiwan's courts is to charge them under other existing local laws. The new rules would change that by making AI chip smuggling its own criminal offence for the first time. This is a big shift in how Taiwan handles technology exports.

Taiwan's new policy is partly meant to match rules already in place in the United States. The US has long blocked China from buying powerful AI chips made by companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. Even so, China has found ways to get those chips through a hidden black market. US officials say billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia chips have secretly made their way into China over the past few years.

Minister Kung said Taiwan made commitments to the US as part of a trade deal the two sides signed in 2026, called the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. He said Taiwan's new export controls will line up with America's rules, though he did not say exactly when the new measures will start. Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has also said his government will work to address US concerns about export controls. These new rules are expected to be among the strongest steps his administration has taken to protect Taiwan's technology interests.

Taiwan is also thinking about its economic future with the United States. Minister Kung said Taiwan plans to raise billions of dollars to build industrial parks inside the US. These parks would help create a full supply chain for AI hardware makers like Nvidia, keeping production and support services in one country. This shows how closely Taiwan and the US are working together on technology and trade.