U.S. imports of integrated circuits (ICs) from Cambodia, India, Vietnam, and Thailand were up considerably — totaling $4.86 billion — a 17% increase from the year prior, according to new figures from US Census Bureau.
Asian countries dominated the imports, accounting for 83% of the total. India and Cambodia both greatly increased their exports to the US, with a 34-fold and 698% jump, respectively. Vietnam and Thailand saw their trade with the US surge by 75% and 62%, respectively. Vietnam, in particular, has been responsible for more than 10% of US chip imports for the past seven months, with February exports of $562.5 million.
Malaysia and Taiwan were the biggest Asian providers, while Apple Inc. has relocated some iPhone production from China to India, signaling a diversification of the US electronics supply chain.
The full list reads as follows:
Malaysia. $973m -26.3
Taiwan. $732m. +4.3
Vietnam. $563m +74.9
Thailand $422m +62.3
Korea $366m +43.3
China $226m -7.8
Japan $170m. -11.5
Cambodia. $166m. +698
India $159m +3.4
Philippines $146m -5.3
Recently, US officials have voiced worries regarding the nation’s dependency on outside chip producers, particularly from South Korea and Taiwan, to manufacture advanced chips. They have highlighted the possible risks associated with relying on international suppliers for such a critical component of the US economy. They have also called for the US to take steps to become more self-sufficient in chip production, so as to reduce the risk of supply disruptions and ensure the security of the nation’s technology.
Earlier this month the Global Times (GT), a Chinese state-run English-language newspaper, printed a story that said, “The global semiconductor industry would not be facing such uncertainties if the United States had not pushed for decoupling from China to curb China’s rise in the semiconductor industry,” GT said, placing the blame for the supply chain disruption on the U.S. GT asserted that the damage to the semiconductor industry caused by the U.S. is a reminder that South Korea and Japan should come together with other countries rather than follow U.S. strategies even if they go against their own economic interests.
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