TSMC is investing in the United States, and the outside world is concerned about whether technology will leak out. Premier Toh Jung-tai said that "N-1" will be applied. Photo: United Daily News file photo
Although Article 22 of the Industrial Creation Ordinance was passed in the third reading, the implementation date has not yet been announced. The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that the Executive Yuan will announce the implementation date after the sub-laws are revised within six months. Based on this calculation, it will be implemented before the end of this year at the earliest. In Trump 2.0 in the United States, TSMC (2330) recently announced that it would increase its investment in the United States by US$100 billion and is expected to be subject to the new law.
Regarding TSMC's investment in the United States, the outside world is concerned about whether technology will be leaked out. Premier Toh Jung-tai said that "N-1" will be applied. According to current regulations, general overseas investment in semiconductors does not explicitly require "N-1", but the Legislative Yuan passed Article 22 of the Industrial Creation Act in the third reading, which clearly stipulates that overseas investment may be denied if it "affects national security" or "has an adverse impact on the country's economic development." Officials said that this article can be used as the basis for TSMC's review in the United States to implement "N-1". In short, Article 22 will require TSMC to implement "N-1" when investing in the United States.
The original Industrial Creation Act's Article 22 sub-law, Article 6 of the "Regulations on the Handling of Overseas Investment by Companies," stipulates that if overseas investment affects national security, has an adverse impact on national economic development, violates obligations under international treaties or agreements, infringes on intellectual property rights, violates the Labor Standards Act and causes major labor-management disputes that have not yet been resolved, or damages the country's image, the competent authority may refuse to approve overseas investment.
The Industrial Creation Act, which was just passed by the Legislative Yuan, elevates the situation of disapproval to the level of law and adds new penalties. Article 22 clearly states that if a company's application for overseas investment is found to have: 1. an impact on national security; 2. an adverse impact on the country's economic development; 3. an impact on the government's compliance with international treaties or agreements it has concluded; 4. a violation of relevant labor laws and regulations that has led to major unresolved labor disputes, the application may be rejected in whole or in part or approved with additional clauses. If, after approval of outbound investment, a company still has the above four conditions in its operations, the central competent authority may order it to make corrections, and in serious cases, may withdraw the investment.
The new law also adds penalties. Officials said that there were no penalties for violating investment regulations in the past. The third reading of the article also added Article 67-3, which clearly stipulates that if a company fails to apply for approval to implement investors, it will be fined not less than NT$50,000 and not more than NT$1 million. After a company implements overseas investment, if the company affects national security or has an adverse impact on the country's economic development, etc., if it fails to correct, stop or withdraw investors within the deadline, it may be fined not less than NT$500,000 and not more than NT$10 million each time.
產創條例22條最快年底實施 把關台積電赴美加碼投資要「N-1」 | 聯合新聞網
產創條例第22條雖獲三讀通過，但實施日期尚未發布。經濟部表示，須待子法於半年內修正完成後，再由行政院一併公布實施日期。以...
udn.com