On June 14, 2025 Taiwan’s International Trade Administration announced. Most notably, it has included Chinese tech giants Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) to its ever-growing list of entities added to its updated list of commodities deemed as strategically high-tech. Indeed, Bloomberg notes that this decision makes it harder to export control such companies. Now, they’ll face even more hurdles in accessing the resources required to build artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
The new regulations mandate that Taiwanese businesses must obtain government approval before shipping any goods or technologies to Huawei and SMIC. This new requirement will make it much harder for either company to act. They are doing their best to obtain all the crucial pieces that go into their productions.
The trade administration emphasized the rationale behind this decision, stating, “On June 10, we added some 601 entities from Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Myanmar, and mainland China including Huawei and SMIC to the entity list to combat arms proliferation and address other national security concerns.”
If these export controls are rigorously enforced, Huawei and SMIC will find it nearly impossible to remain competitive. Navigating the rapidly changing AI technology landscape is an incredibly difficult task. The limitations apply to their subsidiaries, directly expanding the reach of the restrictions beyond companies’ core businesses.
The announcement was officially posted on June 15, 2025, at 2:14 PM PDT, reflecting Taiwan’s commitment to addressing national security concerns while navigating its complex relationship with China. Taiwan looks set to continue its aggressive positioning in the global tech arena. These bold moves underscore a larger effort to shield the Empire State’s growing tech sector and remain on the cutting edge of the nation’s innovative economy.