Taiwan to Hold Trade Talks with European Union

Taiwan, a semiconductor powerhouse, will undertake high-level trade negotiations with the European Union on Thursday, according to a source familiar with the situation, as part of the bloc's relentless campaign to bolster its Chip Industry.

The EU unveiled a European Chips Act in February, naming Taiwan, home to the world's largest contract chipmaker TSMC and other significant semiconductor companies, as one of the "like-minded partners" with whom Europe would like to collaborate.

According to the source, who did not wish to be identied, Taiwan's economics minister, Wang Mei-hua, will hold virtual meetings with a senior EU trade official on Thursday evening. The EU's trade chief is Valdis Dombrovskis.

Wang told reporters in Taipei late Wednesday that Taiwan-EU relations were deepening and that negotiations at all levels were ongoing. She refused to provide specifics, stating that if she had anything to reveal, she would do it at the appropriate moment. Taiwan's government has stated that it feels there is "enormous" space for semiconductor collaboration with the EU. The EU meeting comes a day after the US agreed to restart trade talks with Taiwan.