Summary
Taiwan’s government is closely monitoring reports that SpaceX has requested its Taiwanese suppliers to relocate manufacturing to countries like Vietnam and Thailand due to “geopolitical” concerns, specifically potential conflict with China.
Taiwan’s Economic Affairs Minister JW Kuo expressed confidence in Taiwan’s resilient supply chain but acknowledged the situation.
The request has sparked anger in Taiwan, with some accusing Musk of being ungrateful for local suppliers. The incident has also garnered attention in China, with some praising Musk’s foresight regarding China’s unification goals.
It’s a dick move, but I can kinda understand why SpaceX would make it. There has been a push to “de-risk” supply chains, after the disruptions caused by Covid, Russia’s invasion of Ukranie, and other world events. This type of de-risking was partly responsible for the CHIPS and Science Act. The US Government has a strategic incentive to have a stable and resilient supply chain for semiconductors.
For SpaceX, having critical components be only available from fabs in Taiwan is a risk to business. China has been more and more vocal about it’s desire to annex Taiwan. With Trump taking office, one can imagine that the US commitment to protect Taiwan may not be quite as iron clad as it has been in the past. It’s not hard to imagine a future where China launches an invasion of Taiwan and the US does little more than shrug. At that point, any business which is solely reliant on Taiwan for semiconductors is going to see major disruptions.
So ya, it’s a complete dick move. But, I suspect SpaceX will be far from the last company looking to build a supply chain outside Taiwan.
Someone tell him Barron’s Xbox gets it’s chips from Taiwan I don’t care if it’s true