News Briefing
The Nikkei reported that Japan has begun internal discussions to evaluate and follow up on the export control measures imposed by the United States on China, and pay attention to the responses of the European Union, South Korea and other US allies. Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunori Nishimura said a few days ago: "We are communicating with the U.S. side, and based on this, we invite domestic industry players to participate in the public hearing."

Impact Analysis
In early October, the U.S. government issued a chip ban on mainland China, restricting U.S. companies from exporting equipment/materials capable of producing chips below 16/14 nm, and stipulating that “unlicensed U.S. citizens are prohibited from engaging in chip development or manufacturing in mainland China, including after-sales service technicians for U.S. equipment manufacturers.”In addition to the United States, Japan also masters advanced equipment/materials for wafer manufacturing. With the Japanese authorities throwing out the idea of a chip ban, the United States and Japan have joined forces to launch a technological war against mainland China.

In the past, with its vast market, perfect production infrastructure, and well-trained labor, mainland China leapt to the status of the world's factory. Under the influence of the policy, many hidden costs have been added. In addition, the United States and Japan have a strong sense of cooperation, and it is unpredictable when they will make another move. This is gradually weakening the competitiveness of the investment environment in mainland China. Taking Japanese companies as an example, in the first half of 2022, 12,706 Japanese companies entered mainland China, the lowest number in the past 10 years. The same trend is also reflected in the latest survey reports this year by the Federation of South Korean Industries, the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, and the Washington think tank CSIS.

For Taiwanese companies, the Chinese mainland market accounts for about 50% of the total revenue of IC design factories in Taiwan with a revenue of more than 5 billion yuan; and about 25~30% of the customers of Taiwanese PCB manufacturers are mainland Chinese customers, and more than sixty percent of the output depends on the production base in mainland China. Therefore, in the future, the various controls and measures imposed by the United States and Japan (and possibly the European Union and South Korea) on mainland China will increase the risk variables of enterprises, which will not only change the balance of the existing industry, but also It also changed the thinking of business decision-making, making the original "money cost" consideration, and the "political cost" factor must be added to make it more complicated and difficult.