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Car
factories around the world are shutting assembly lines because
of the chip shortages, which in some cases have been exacerbated
by the former Trump administration's actions against Chinese
chip companies.
Taiwan, home to tech firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip
maker, has become front and centre of efforts to resolve the
shortage.
"The U.S. side thanked us for our help on this," Wang told
reporters of the meeting, which she said was attended by senior
executives from companies including TSMC and Qualcomm Inc.
But she said the focus of the talks was not on auto chips and
the issue of whether to prioritise their production was not
brought up.
Wang said TSMC also discussed its planned new $12 billion plant
in the U.S. state of Arizona, although she did not give details.
TSMC declined to comment on the meeting.
The auto chip shortage has affected Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor
Co, Subaru Corp, Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co Ltd, Fiat
Chrysler and other car makers.
The closed-door event, joined by the Taiwan minister and what
she described as "very senior U.S. officials", is the first
announced high-level exchange between Taiwan and the Biden
administration, which took office on Jan. 20.
The State Department said last week that Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Trade Policy and Negotiations Matt Murray would
take part.
The de facto U.S. ambassador to Taiwan, Brent Christensen, did
attend, and was seen getting into his car after the meeting was
over.
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, the United States is
Chinese-claimed Taiwan's most important international backer and
arms supplier.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kim Coghill and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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