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The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is rejecting a recent White House request to disclose details about its relationships with its suppliers and customers, which would also include information on various aspects of its operations.

TSMC

According to Sylvia Fang, the world’s largest contract chip maker’s general counsel, “We will definitely not leak our company’s sensitive information, especially that related to our customers. We are still at the stage of doing some preliminary research and evaluating the contents of the questionnaire (sent by the US government).”  Apparently, the US is demanding details into the types of products it produces for clients, lead times, inventory levels and other information that the company deemed as confidential.

As of right now, TSMC is seeing a record demand for its semiconductors, especially from the automobile industry in the recent quarter due to the ongoing global chip shortage that has affected various industries and markets across the globe. The Automotive segment is one of the biggest industries across the globe, including the US, with companies employing tens of millions of people globally. So when the production of cars halts due to a supply shortage, the impact of the constraints poses a significant economic threat.

TSMC

Thus, the US is working to secure its own chip supply while also discerning the semiconductor supply chain of other nations by asking foundries to voluntarily disclose information regarding their business. Washington even went as far as to threaten these firms using a national security law, as per a NikkeiAsia report. Gina Raimondo, the US Secretary of Commerce added that “We have other tools in our tool box that require them to give us data. I hope we don’t get there. But if we have to we will.”

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