Taiwan plans to add AI servers and cutting-edge semiconductors to its list of controlled exports, bringing its rules closer to US restrictions on sending advanced chips to China. Economy minister Kung Ming-hsin made the comments in an interview with Bloomberg. Once the controls take effect, shipping restricted AI hardware to China would become a criminal offence. Kung did not say when that will be.
What Kung said
Taipei plans to add artificial intelligence servers and cutting-edge semiconductors to a list of controlled items, Taiwan’s Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin told Bloomberg News. After the measures take effect, he said, shipping restricted AI hardware to China will become a criminal offence under Taiwan’s Foreign Trade Act.
Kung tied the move to Taiwan’s trade deal with Washington. “Going forward, some of our measures on controlled items will correspond to American ones because we have made quite some commitments in the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade,” he said, as quoted by Tom’s Hardware. Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA), which relayed the interview in Chinese, says it took place on 12 October.
According to CNA, Kung declined to say when the government would put the new measures into effect. This is a plan, not a rule in force, and the specific items and technical thresholds have not been published.
Why the change matters
CNA notes that Taiwan does not currently treat unauthorised exports of AI chips to China as a crime. Taiwanese officials have warned exporters that shipping such goods to China could break US rules, but Taiwanese prosecutors pursuing suspected smugglers can only use other existing laws.
Tom’s Hardware reports that the Foreign Trade Act carries a penalty of “up to five years in prison and/or a fine of around $92,500”. The dollar amount is Tom’s Hardware’s conversion. CNA describes the planned controls as one of the strictest measures President Lai Ching-te’s government would have taken to protect Taiwan’s technology and national security interests.
The case that exposed the gap
The plan follows a high-profile prosecution. In August, Taiwan News reports, prosecutors indicted nine people over an alleged scheme to export AI servers to China illegally. Authorities said the case involved 130 servers, 74 of which were allegedly shipped to China through other countries using false documents.
The charges included breach of trust and document forgery, not offences specifically involving unauthorised AI hardware exports, Taiwan News says. It adds that the case highlighted how hard it is to enforce US technology restrictions using Taiwan’s existing laws.
There have been parallel cases in the US. A contractor linked to Super Micro Computer has pleaded guilty in a case involving the diversion of Nvidia-powered AI servers to China, as Reuters and Bloomberg reported (see Related stories).
The trade deal behind it
Under the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade signed this year, Tom’s Hardware says, the US cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% in exchange for commitments including direct investment in the US tech industry. Bloomberg describes the planned controls as Taiwan joining the Trump administration’s clampdown on the smuggling of cutting-edge semiconductors to China.
What we don’t know
- When the new controls will take effect. Kung did not say.
- Exactly which servers and chips will be listed, and at what performance thresholds.
- How the rules will treat shipments routed to China through third countries.
What this means
- Taiwan’s economy minister says Taipei will add AI servers and cutting-edge chips to its export-control list, partly in line with US rules under the two sides’ trade agreement.
- Once in force, shipping restricted AI hardware to China would be a crime under the Foreign Trade Act. Tom’s Hardware puts the penalty at up to five years in prison and/or a fine of about $92,500.
- No effective date has been given, and the list of items has not been published.
Sources
- Bloomberg: Taiwan to Curb AI Chip Exports to China as Part of US Trade Deal
- CNA: Kung Ming-hsin Bloomberg interview on AI chip export controls (Chinese)
- Tom’s Hardware: Taiwan targets illicit AI server exports to China with five-year prison terms
- Taiwan News: Taiwan to impose strict controls on AI chip exports to China
Related stories
- Super Micro-Linked Contractor Willy Sun Pleads Guilty in the Nvidia-Server China Diversion Case, Reuters and Bloomberg Report
- Taiwan Plans a Texas Industrial Park for TSMC and Foxconn Suppliers
- China Proposes Adding 40 AI, Biomedicine and Solar Technologies to Its Export-Control Catalogue
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