Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs is expanding its controlled export list to include AI servers and cutting-edge chips, making unauthorized shipments to China a criminal offense. Violators would face up to five years in prison and a fine of roughly $92,500 under the Foreign Trade Act.
The policy shift follows the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade signed earlier this year, under which the U.S. reduced tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% in exchange for Taiwanese investment in U.S. tech. Minister Kung Ming-hsin said Taiwan's controlled-item measures will now correspond to American ones because of commitments made in that deal.
The move comes amid U.S. efforts to stop advanced Nvidia chips from reaching China. Taiwanese authorities raided Super Micro's Taipei offices after U.S. prosecutors accused three Super Micro employees, including co-founder Wally Liaw, of smuggling $2.5 billion worth of AI servers. The new law gives Taiwan a direct legal tool, whereas Singapore, lacking such export restrictions, has charged suspected smugglers with fraud and money laundering.
The stricter stance is likely to please Washington but may provoke Beijing, which previously condemned Taiwan's export restrictions on Huawei and SMIC.