• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • About Us
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Parcel & Express
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Robotics
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Customer Relationship Management
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • Green Energy
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Management & Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Warehouse Automation
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • WHITEPAPERS
  • VIDEOS
Home » Growing Distrust of China Brings $38 Billion Windfall for Taiwan

Growing Distrust of China Brings $38 Billion Windfall for Taiwan

The Era of ‘Made in China’
Source: Bloomberg
September 14, 2020
Bloomberg

Taiwan sits squarely in the middle of the worsening dispute between Beijing and Washington, with many of its companies operating factories in China manufacturing for American companies.

Those tensions are pushing Taiwanese companies to relocate some production back home and also redirect money to factories on their side of the strait. Taiwan’s government has helped with tax breaks and other support, and that investment has cushioned some of the blow from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since January 2019, more than NT$1.1 trillion ($38 billion) of Taiwanese investment has come back, Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua said last week, with tech manufacturers including Innolux Corp., Accton Technology Corp. and Quanta Computer Inc. building new factories in Taiwan.

Supply chains for electric vehicle manufacturers including Tesla Inc., which has a factory in Shanghai, are also moving to set up in Taiwan, she told members of the American Chamber of Commerce and their Taiwanese counterparts, touting the fruits of the government’s policy to bring manufacturing and investment back.

The moves by Taiwanese companies are in contrast with U.S. firms, which haven’t responded to President Donald Trump’s calls to return home. However, rising distrust of China is leading American companies to move their supply chains elsewhere, with Wang saying that the main driver for companies coming back to Taiwan is intellectual property concerns from U.S. customers.

“It’s upstream companies that determine the direction of Taiwanese investment,” said Roy Chun Lee, deputy executive director of the Taiwan WTO & RTA Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research. “The general trend is the creation of a second-track supply chain that is less reliant on China.”

One example is Wistron NeWeb Corp, which announced a new NT$2.7 billion investment in a factory in Taiwan in June, after its customers requested it diversify where it manufactures. The firm makes routers and other wireless gear, and counts AT&T Inc. and HP Inc. among its biggest clients, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In January last year, President Tsai Ing-wen launched a three-year program to encourage Taiwanese businesspeople with operations abroad to repatriate manufacturing and investment.

After an initial surge, the pace of returning investment has slowed this year, with some of that likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There has also been a shift in sectors from information and communications technology, which dominated last year, with investment in compound materials and auto parts and components rising, according to Lee.

In another shift, it’s not just American end clients pushing companies back home to Taiwan’s skilled labor pool and highly developed supply network.

“European companies are now beginning to follow their American counterparts and recommending that their suppliers diversify away from China,” Lee said. “Rising production costs in China are an issue, and there is also a cost associated with the political uncertainty there, including the increasingly strained ties between China and the EU.”

    RELATED CONTENT

    RELATED VIDEOS

    Global Supply Chain Management Global Trade & Economics Automotive High-Tech/Electronics
    KEYWORDS Asia Pacific Automotive China Global Trade & Economics High-Tech/Electronics
    • Related Articles

      China Brings WTO Case on U.S. Chip Sanctions

      The World Is Dangerously Dependent on Taiwan for Semiconductors

      Does the U.S. Need to Reduce Its Dependence on Taiwan for Semiconductors?

    Bloomberg

    U.S. Exports to Cuba Jump as Fuel, Cars and Food Get Past Trump’s Blockade

    More from this author

    Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

    Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

    Featured Product

    Popular Stories

    • A LARGE CYLINDRICAL OBJECT SHRINK-WRAPPED IN WHITE PLASTIC IS LOWERED BY CRANE ONTO A FLAT BED TRUCK ON A DOCK

      AI Boom Has European Buyers Paying Extra to Secure Gas Turbines

      Technology
    • 016_ai_and_data_transformation_in_distribution_v1-(540p).png

      Watch: AI and Data Transformation in Distribution

      Artificial Intelligence
    • DOMINO EFFECT FINANCIAL MONEY KNOCK-ON CONSEQUENCES iStock-Devrimb-1500012566.jpg

      Podcast | The Tariff Conundrum for Supply Chains: Pass Along, or Absorb?

      Supply Chain Finance & Revenue Management
    • TWO WORKERS DISCUSS DATA SHOWN ON COMPUTER SCREENS

      Gartner: Gap in SC AI Talent Cannot Be Closed by Hiring Alone

      Artificial Intelligence
    • A pair of hands reaches towards a cluster of icons showing global logistics network distribution and transportation

      CSCMP's State of Logistics Report: Get Used to the Fog

      Logistics

    Digital Edition

    2026 esg cover main scb q2 2026 cover

    SupplyChainBrain 2026 ESG Guide: ESG — The Supply Chain’s Biggest Secret

    VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

    Case Studies

    • Recycled Tagging Fasteners: Small Changes Make a Big Impact

    • A GRAPHIC SHOWING MULTIPLE FORMS OF SHIPPING, WITH A HUMAN STANDING AT THE CENTER, TOUCHING A SYMBOLIC MAP OF THE WORLD

      Enhancing High-Value Electronics Shipment Security with Tive's Real-Time Tracking

    • A GRAPHIC OF INTERLACING HONEYCOMBED ELEMENTS REPRESENTING GLOBAL BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

      Moving Robots Site-to-Site

    • JLL Finds Perfect Warehouse Location, Leading to $15M Grant for Startup

    • Robots Speed Fulfillment to Help Apparel Company Scale for Growth

    Visit Our Sponsors

    4flow Arkieva Blue Yonder
    Carton Cloud CoEnterprise Dassault
    Duravant E2Open General Logistics Systems
    Hy-Tek iGPS Korber
    Lyngsoe Procurability Quinyx
    SAP Sikick Systech
    S&P Global Mobility TADA TransImpact
    US Bank Werner Enterprises WSI
    • More From SCB
      • Featured Content
      • Video Library
      • Think Tank Blog
      • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
      • Whitepapers
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Upcoming Webinars
    • Digital Offerings
      • Digital Issue
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Email Preferences
      • Newsletters
    • Resources
      • Events Calendar
      • 2026 Event Coverage
      • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
      • Supplier Directory
      • Case Study Showcase
      • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
      • 100 Great Partners Form
    • SCB Corporate
      • Advertise on SCB.COM
      • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact Us
      • Data Sharing Opt-Out

    All content copyright ©2026 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing