Shares of several chipmakers have fallen over the past two days as reports of increased U.S. export controls on China and comments from former President Trump about Taiwan’s defense roiled the industry.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) fell 7.7 percent from market close on Tuesday to market close on Thursday. However, it recovered slightly on Thursday afternoon after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
Shares of ASML Holding are down 13.5 percent over the same two-day period, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is down 12.3 percent and Nvidia is down 4.2 percent.
The industry has been gaining ground in the market since Bloomberg reported on Tuesday night that the Biden administration was considering tighter trade restrictions to prevent China from obtaining advanced semiconductor technology.
The administration is considering imposing a measure called the foreign direct product rule, which would allow the U.S. to restrict the sale of foreign-made products that use American technology.
The rule could be used to crack down on business between Beijing and companies like Netherlands-based ASML Holding.
Chip stocks also took a hit after Trump suggested Taiwan should pay for U.S. protection and appeared skeptical of the U.S.’s long-standing commitment to defending the self-governing island from China.
“Taiwan took our chip business away from us,” he said Bloomberg Business Week. “I mean, how stupid are we? They took our entire chip business. They are immensely rich.”
“I don’t think we’re any different than an insurance policy,” Trump added. “Why? Why are we doing this?”
Taiwan, which plays a central role in the semiconductor industry, faces an increasingly emboldened China, which has stepped up its military exercises and patrols around the island in recent years.
Beijing considers Taiwan, which broke away from the mainland in 1949, to be part of the country and has vowed to take it by force if necessary.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
