Taiwan adds China’s Huawei and SMIC to export control list

Key Points

• Taiwan’s Commerce Ministry has added Huawei and SMIC to its strategic high-tech export control list, requiring local firms to obtain permits before selling goods to these Chinese chipmakers.
• Both companies, already under U.S. sanctions, are racing to develop advanced AI chips to compete with Nvidia and supply Chinese tech firms amid growing export curbs.
• Taiwan, home to TSMC—the world’s largest chipmaker—saw the U.S. order last November to halt shipments of certain advanced chips to Chinese customers as part of broader technology restrictions.
• The updated export control list also includes entities like the Taliban and al-Qaeda, highlighting Taiwan’s expanding security measures in the face of rising trade and technology tensions with China and the U.S.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s Commerce Ministry has added Chinese chipmakers Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) to its export control list, as trade and technology frictions between the self-ruled island, China and the United States increase.

Inclusion on the “strategic high-tech commodities” list means Taiwanese companies will need to obtain export permits before selling goods to the respective companies. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as other companies in China, Iran and elsewhere.

The export control entities list was last updated on Sunday. Neither Huawei nor SMIC initially commented on their inclusion.

Huawei and SMIC have both been sanctioned by the U.S. The two companies are producing China’s most advanced homegrown artificial intelligence chips in an effort to compete with U.S.-based Nvidia and supply Chinese tech firms with the much-needed chips amid export curbs.

Taiwan is home the world’s largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), a major supplier for Nvidia.

Last November, the U.S. ordered TSMC to halt supplies of certain advanced chips to Chinese customers as part of broader efforts to restrict China’s access to cutting-edge technologies.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. The U.S. is Taiwan's biggest unofficial ally and arms seller.