Taiwan chipmaker TSMC will not leak any sensitive company information as part of a White House request for details on the ongoing semiconductor crisis that has forced cuts to U.S. auto production, the company’s general counsel said.
The White House made the request to automakers, chip companies and others last month. “We have other tools in our toolbox that require them to give us data,” said Gina Raimondo, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, in an interview with Reuters. “I hope we don’t get there. But if we have to we will.”
“We will definitely not leak our company’s sensitive information, especially that related to our customers,” stated Sylvia Fang, TSMC’s general counsel, according to Nikkei Asia. “We are still at the stage of doing some preliminary research and evaluating the contents of the questionnaire [sent by the US government],” Fang added.
As of right now, TSMC is seeing record demand for its semiconductors, especially from the automobile industry in the recent quarter due to the ongoing global chip shortage that has affected various industries and markets across the globe. The Automotive segment is one of the biggest industries across the globe, including the US, with companies employing tens of millions of people globally. So when the production of cars halts due to a supply shortage, the impact of the constraints poses a significant economic threat.
Record demand for everything electronics (which includes parts for modern automobiles) in the recent quarters caused a massive deficit of various chips, including chips for cars. The automotive industry — which involves automakers, their subcontractors, dealers and services — employs tens of millions of people worldwide and when an automaker has to stop production of cars due to lack of chips, it becomes a significant economic problem.
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