June 16 (UPI) -- China's tech company Huawei and SMIC, a contract chip manufacturer, have been added to Taiwan's trade blacklist.
Taiwan put both of these companies on its strategic high-tech commodities entry list. Huawei and SMIC will now need to get export permits from suppliers in Taiwan to receive manufactured goods.
"Huawei and SMIC were among the 601 new foreign entities blacklisted due to their involvement in arms proliferation activities and other national security concerns," Taiwan's International Trade Administration said in a statement.
In addition to being on Taiwan's blacklist, both companies are on a U.S. trade blacklist due to Washington's control on advanced chips.
In November, the U.S. Department of Commerce ordered a halt on chips used for AI services for Chinese customers. According to a report, it could also face a fine from TSMC for supplying Huawei with 2 million compute chips.
The latest restrictions on both companies are expected to have minimal direct impact on TSMC's business, but this has "significant symbolic weight" for the Taiwanese government, according to Brady Wang, associate director at Counterpoint Research.
"It underscores the Taiwanese government's intention to align more closely with international efforts -- particularly those led by the United States -- to curb the transfer of advanced technologies," he said.
"Other Taiwanese firms, especially smaller IC design houses or component suppliers that may have maintained indirect ties to Chinese companies such as Huawei or SMIC, could face tighter scrutiny and increased compliance obligations going forward," he added.
