TSMC announces that it will no longer sell chips to Russia and will prevent reselling

TSMC is one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, and yesterday it announced that it is fully committed to the Taiwanese government’s sanctions against Russia. In this way, TSMC will not export chips to Russia. In addition, the company will inspect the production chain so that its products do not reach the country through third parties.

TSMC supplies chips to almost everyone

The semiconductor maker does not have Russia as one of its main customers, so the export ban does not affect the Russian government as much. The serious problem you may have is with TSMC’s decision to prohibit Russia from reselling to technology companies and public bodies in the country.

According to Taiwanese government data, adding Russia and Ukraine, sales to these two countries do not account for 1% of TSMC’s total. But the manufacturer will supervise the production chain of devices equipped with its semiconductors, preventing customers from selling to Russia. Anyone who violates this will also be banned from TSMC sales. And here it can get complicated for those who suffered the sanction. Tech industry giants like Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, AMD, and NVIDIA are TSMC customers.

Companies like Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, AMD and NVIDIA cannot sell to Russia

Taiwan and Russia have a natural gas distribution contract for the island. This contract will end in March, when the government diversifies its suppliers. The war in Ukraine under the pretext that it “never existed”, as Vladimir Putin says, causes concern in Taiwan. The nation emerged during the Chinese revolution, when the Chinese Nationalist Party lost to the Communist Party (in power to this day), and is called a “rogue province” by mainland China.

Moments after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chinese warplanes invaded Taiwan’s airspace. There are fears that the war in Ukraine will inspire China to launch an offensive on the island that has the United States as its closest ally.