"U.S. government demand for semiconductor data, ineffective and counterproductive threat to allies"

Regarding the US government's request for supply chain data from global semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and TSMC, Bloomberg published a column criticizing it as "an ineffective and counterproductive threat to its allies."

Bloomberg columnist Tim Coolpan argued this in a column titled 'A weak link in the global semiconductor supply chain is the United States' on the 13th (local time).

Previously, the White House and the US Department of Commerce last month required companies such as Samsung Electronics, TSMC, Intel, Apple, and Microsoft to submit answers to the supply chain information questionnaire, such as semiconductor inventory, orders, and sales, by November 8. .

This questionnaire consists of a total of 26 questions, ranging from everyday information to questions that intervene in company affairs.

Coolpan pointed out that the move backfired, displeasing South Korea, Taiwan and China.

China protested that the US was asking for information in order to suppress it, and officials in South Korea and Taiwan, its allies, were more cautious, but quickly blocked Samsung Electronics and TSMC from releasing confidential information, the column said.

In fact, he pointed out that this survey is a standard tool distributed to solve the semiconductor supply and demand problem, and the response is voluntary. He added that, in particular, forcing the submission of data by applying the Defense Materials Production Act (DPA) does not apply to foreign companies.

However, the column pointed out that, given the characteristics of the semiconductor industry, which is one of the fastest-changing industries, it is likely that the survey will be useless in time after analyzing the responses of companies.

In the reality of the semiconductor industry, where supply and demand are rapidly changing, even if a final report related to this investigation is prepared by the end of this year, it is only outdated information.'

In the case of TSMC, Taiwan, the world's largest semiconductor foundry, inventory levels can rise and fall by more than 20% in a few months, and new products based on the latest technology are released every one or two quarters.

While the data the Commerce Department collects may prove that some companies are stockpiling semiconductors, this is a widely known fact, the column points out.

Despite the Ministry of Commerce's last week saying that it is building an early warning system to overcome semiconductor bottlenecks and asking companies to report problems by e-mail, the column said, "Setting up a manual process (such as e-mail) for short-term events is serious in the industry. It's an unacceptable approach."

He also emphasized that the semiconductor industry is collecting and processing a lot of supply chain information based on an automated global information technology (IT) system.

In particular, the column criticized the US government's biggest mistake was that the US was the only victim of a shortage of semiconductors and acted as if it needed to rob other countries.

He added that if the US government really wants to solve this problem, it must again show its readiness to build alliances and create a global solution.